Cash has been more attractive because gold has carrying costs and seen as inflation insurance so the value goes down unless there's fear of inflation.  

Had you bought a stock that didn't go up and paid no dividend, at the end of that time you'd have lost a significant chunk to inflation.

You can calculate cap rate, vacancy rate, inflation, etc.

What good is it if you cash flow  $100/unit, but put 50% down and your ROI is less than rate of inflation.

It is well known that Vancouver Real Estate’s prices are very high if compared to the rest of Canada, and most buyers end up paying inflated prices without doing the proper research prior to signing any deal.The Globe and Mail reported that several properties in Vancouver have been recently sold for astonishingly higher prices, some with the promise of “zero risk, high return” for the buyers; however the proper information on zoning and rezoning of these areas is not offered to the buyers during the negotiation.In recent days, the Vancouver Securities Commission started an investigation on local companies offering crowd-funding services for real estate, following to an analysis of the inflated prices that properties were selling for in given zoning areas. “ The Molson brewery site in Kitsilano, assessed at $43.7-million.

My wife and I were wondering if they purposely over inflate trying to get you to list your house with them.

When you get into trouble is inflating or being overly optimistic about the expected cash flow streams of a new project and then underestimating the costs.All in costs go up and expected income goes down.

This doesn't apply for all losses, let's say the inflatable hot tub in your living room springs a leak (this has happened in one of my buildings!!)

I am slightly afraid to purchase in this market because of the inflated cost of single family.

A key indicator is inflation adjusted per capita income for the location over the past few years.