Millenials in the expensive markets are well advised not to purchase.  Returns on real estate are normally distributed.  Residential real estate cratered in value in Alberta in the 1980s.  I real dollar terms, there was no increase from 1982 - 1999.  Toronto sold off in the 1990s; Vancouver in the early 1980s.  Years of high return will be followed by negative returns.
Lower mainland house prices are driven by lax taxation and money laundering enforcement.  When you cross the American border, house prices are very affordable.  In Washington, there is no state income tax and health insurance is available under Obamacare.  For a foreign investor, Washington state has a lot to offer.  But then there is the IRS....Why else would foreign investors be willing to pay more than 5 times as much for a house?