A recent guest editorial in the Citizen bemoaned the loss of "value" for Canadians due to a small decline in home resale prices.
The author dismissed the essential fact that homes serve the primary purpose of sheltering and protecting occupants and their possessions. As a supposed store of wealth, a home is incidental and unsure. Inflated home prices exclude many from ownership, while giving owners an illusion of wealth which may never be realized. Ask someone in a community that has just seen a closure of an industry employing hundreds.
When one buys a new car, one does not expect it to increase in resale value. Should a home be any different?
James Loughery
Prince George
