More million dollar houses.

Todays Vancouver Sun leads with the cheerful headline House millionaires double in the province. Are these people that own or owe a million dollars?

Most new paper millionaires own single-family houses. There are 38,027 such homes worth more than $1 million according to 2007 property assessments -- 18,459 more than a year ago.

And the number of condominiums assessed at more than $1 million increased by almost three quarters to 3,260 properties.

As BC real estate association chief economist Cameron Muir (née CMHC) points out this is based on the july 05- july 06 assessments which saw some of the biggest price increases. Prices for the last six months are doing something strange - they've actually been dropping in many categories since a price peak in september 2006.

Muir added that assessment increases are only "paper profits."

"It's the equity in your home. Today it may be high, [but] the market may change and it may not be so high in a few years," he said.

Is that the most pessimistic Muir quote yet?