Vancouver home prices may see double-digit decline in 2017: realtor

Vancouver

VANCOUVER'S long-awaited housing correction may be around the corner: Prices are headed for a double-digit decline in 2017 as buyers drop out of the market, according to the head of Canada's largest real estate services company.

"Home prices had got so out of whack with the growth in underlying wages and salaries that there had to be a correction," said Phil Soper, chief executive officer of Royal LePage, a unit of Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. "And it'll happen in 2017."

Royal LePage is preparing a formal forecast for release in early January based on data from Brookfield, which also runs the nation's biggest property valuation company. Those appraisals are used by banks, insurance companies and mortgage underwriters. "We're looking at all these trends," Mr Soper said. "If it's not double digit, it'll be clos…