Bought mine off the Lever xMas sale, and couldn't be happier with it. Once I got it out shooting this spring, it immediately turned my SKS, M38, and 91/30 into safe queens. More accurate than all three others.
I look at it this way: What else can you get in a .308/30-06 (roughly, let the calibre argument begin) semi-auto that's even remotely close to this price? Answer: Abso-freaking-lutely nothing.
Not to mention, what can you shoot in that power ranger for ~ $0.25/shot? Again, Abso-freaking-lutely nothing. It would be a challenge to even reload .308 for that price.
And if you poke around, you can get the MFS hunting loads for ~ $0.75/shot, which is still pretty heavy on the bargain side.
Add to all that, the interesting history of the rifle? At this price point, for this rifle, it's a great time to be Canadian. Look at the price they go for in the US because of the import ban.
Canada is one of the last Western nations that will:
A) buy these things from the former East Block (no import bans)
B) actually has a market for them, and they're legal for civilian use/ownership (Sorry Australia, the UK, most of Western Europe)
C) pay more than just shipping and scrap metal price for them (think Africa - where old surps go to die).
As a result, we're getting flooded with them, along with the Mosins and SKS's (in spite of the WestRifle panic and Marstar ball dropping, SKS's can still be easily found for < $200 ).
So, in short, yes. It's a supply and demand thing. Canada is getting all the supply, essentially has a lock on demand (thanks to other countries having silly import laws or generally even worse gun control laws), and there are still untold hundreds of thousands of them sitting in warehouses in the former Warsaw pact.
Buy one to shoot, one to store, and another just 'cause.
The price might drop a bit more, but not much. Eventually, the supply will start to dry up, and by then the Bubbas will have f#cked over more than half the ones in the county. 49 year turnaround for a profit? Not likely, 15-20 year and you'll be in good shape, so long as you take care of it or keep it in the cosmo.