Re: “Housing is a right, not an investment,” letter, Aug. 8.
The letter-writer has fuzzy math. There has been a dramatic shift to single-person households and elderly people staying longer in their homes. Average size of household vs. units built is an apples-to-oranges type of comparison.
Here is the real issue.
In the past 30 years, the price of a house in the Victoria area has doubled every 10 years. I have owned homes and/or condos in Fernwood, Rockland, Gorge and Broadmead areas since 1987, and all those properties have tracked that same pattern of upward price movement.
My wife has a family home in Sidney (1967); it, like the others, has doubled in value/price every 10 years. It ebbs and flows during those decades, but ultimately doubles in that time frame.
That is not a housing bubble, but rather the historical norm for Victoria. Once you understand that, finding a solution becomes more likely.
Doug Coulson
Victoria