Okay, I think this is a bit extreme but apparently, therapists, divorce lawyers and real estate agents have noted a side effect common to property booms that they're calling real-estate-enabled divorces. In hot property markets where home values have increased significantly, separating couples are using the profits from appreciated properties to start over in style. This doesn't sound good for family life in the Cove or other parts of BC!
Economists have long noted that couples that experience large increase in their net worth are at a higher risk of divorce. The theory behind why couples with increasing fortunes find themselves headed to divorce court is the belief that they can better their current situation by cashing out and trading up.
Padded bank accounts make some couples revaluate their union as they realize that they are less financially dependent on each other now then they were previously. The extra money makes it possible to maintain a comfortable standard of living of as a single person.
The bright side of real-estate-enabled divorces is that increasing property wealth does not cause couples to divorce. The new money only acts as a divorce catalyst with unhappy couples, which is good news for happy couples living in appreciating houses.
(source: Buy Low, Divorce High, New York Times Aug 12, 2007)