Despite recent data predicting a dip in Vancouver condo prices next year, an economist said Thursday it's unlikely the city's housing bubble is in any danger of bursting after managing to withstand the 2008 recession.

Mortgage company Genworth Canada stated in a new report that average condo prices will rise in all major Canadian cities next year, save for Vancouver proper where prices are expected to drop 2% from $355,406 to $348,152.

Cameron Muir, chief economist at the B.C. Real Estate Association, noted Vancouver's housing prices did not plummet following the worst economic period since the Great Depression.

"If (the 2008 global recession) wouldn't have been a trigger or tipping point for a correction in a market that was overheated, I don't know what you would need to have," he said, noting condo prices have grown marginally in Vancouver since 2009.

"There's no real strong evidence of any kind of impending event in the housing markets."

He instead expects B.C. home prices to remain flat for at least the next 18 months.

The Genworth report stated the dip was partly due to a reduced amount of offshore investment in the city.

While Muir admits there is no reliable data on international buyers, he estimates they account for only 1% to 3% of people buying homes locally on any given month.

"That number is quite small - not enough to have an impact on the overall marketplace," he said, adding, 1% to 3% in terms of overall unit sales is not sufficient enough to drive any market in any one direction.