Prices do depend on the specific house, the Astra you live, and the local economy. There are always cheaper alternatives, and differrring risk levels associated with that. I've seen people get cheap work that was fine, others who needed it replaced right away. I admit my price may be high, but I also know people who've spent near those numbers. I prefer to plan for worse case scenario, and I also have no idea about your specific place.
As for price increases, and potential corrections, the interest rate has been steadily falling for more than 25 years. That has been fuelling the real estate boom for that entire period. There is an entire generation who has never experienced rising inflation, so has no idea what that implies. People have short memories, and usually are short sighted in their thinking.
I, on the other hand, really enjoy studying history, looking at how things worked in the past. While not an accurate way to predict the future, it does point out what one can expect to happen in certain circumstances, especially those which one has never personally experienced. Alberta, without oil and in a time of high inflation, is not a pretty place. Take a look at things like the NEP, which occirred as the bright idea of Justin's, who stated recently a comment about "phasing out the oil sands, father. Add to that the fact that the overnight rate is down to nearly 0%, with little room to decrease further, and one can envision a scenario of rising interest rates coming sooner than later.
Again, I can't predict the future accurately any better than the next person but, as someone with far more real estate exposure than most people, I can tell you I'm a lot more cautious and worried about the future than the average homeowner. I try to understand where things are likely to go, and why they went where they did, instead of relying on where they have been going in the past, blindly believing everything will continue.
In other threads I've outlined the reasons i think real estate may be overvalued in some areas by as much as 40-60%, the best argument against my numbers seems to have been "I don't believe it".
Real estate is a house of cards right now in my opinion. If interest rates rise, I think it'll all come tumbling down.
That being said, I'm still a buyer in this market but the prices I'm willing to pay are so low, many people on this board think it's impossible.
If I'm wrong about the future, you may miss out on owning your own place this year, though nothing I've seen implies Calgary is going to turn around any time soon. A new carbon tax isn't going to help the oil sands any, so Calgary's prices will level out at best, and probably continue to fall in the short term at least.
If I'm right however, and the government starts to increase the interest rates (the USA has already started btw), then we could be in for something unimaginable.
Personally, with my exposure, I can't afford to be wrong, so I'm probably more pessimistic than most. If I'm wrong in my prediction, and prices continue to rise, I'm going to win anyway.
One final thought, if you're not willing to negotiate over your rent, or move in a favourable time to save money, then you obviously aren't really all that worried about your finances...which is rather typical for Canadians. However, the typical Canadian also isn't very good at making and keeping their money, preferring to rely on the "hope and pray" method to ensure their future financial security. Having personally seen how that system can fail you at a fairly early age, I changed my technique.