Re: "Real estate values, sales fall 30 per cent," Jan. 13.
I read with disbelief your headline that real estate values have dropped 30 per cent. This headline would lead you to believe that house prices have dropped 30 per cent. The facts are, the sales volume and the amount of the sales have dropped 30 per cent from a high that almost everyone would agree was in an overheated market.
You have to get to the seventh paragraph (and most people don't get that far) before you find that average house prices have in fact increased by 3.5 per cent in Victoria and B.C.
I work in the home-construction business, and it is hard enough convincing people that house prices are stabilizing and that they can buy or renovate a home without fear. Your doom-and-gloom headlines only perpetuate the "sky is falling" attitude that just makes things worse.
How about next time we print a headline that house prices are steady, or that we have 97 per cent employment or that there are still lots of job-wanted ads out there. Let's understand that, yes, things are going to get tougher than the last few years but all we have to do is get back to working harder and smarter.
For those of us who have seen several market downturns in the past, we realize we will come out of it a little smarter and more efficient.
Don Beatty
Oak Bay
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