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“I think housing prices were shaping up to be one of the top issues for the coming election,” said veteran political scientist Norman Ruff.

“You don’t need to look at public opinion polls, you just need to listen to people in conversation. That and school closures are the two issues that the public are talking about.

“This was growing to such proportions they’ve been forced to intervene. It runs counter to the direction that the Liberal government has taken for the last 15 years, but the circumstances were moving to crisis proportions — if they are not already at crisis proportions.”

The NDP began Wednesday announcing an “independent task force”of police, prosecutors, lawyers and tax experts to crack down on the money-laundering, fraud and tax evasion that the party says is contributing to skyrocketing housing prices.

Premier Christy Clark responded fewer than two hours later by revoking the real estate industry’s self-policing powers, saying it had lost the privilege of self-regulation after a series of scandals.

“In the coming days and weeks there’s more to come,” Clark said, foreshadowing a series of planned press conference on her government’s housing response.

“Clearly it’s a political hot spot and people are outraged about what’s going on,” said Tsur Somerville, a business professor at the University of B.C.

“No one likes to see 24-year-old realtors driving Lamborghinis. There’s a feeling people have, even if it’s not true, that realtors aren’t working for us, they are the ones getting this sort of windfall from the increase of prices.”