TD Bank:OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING

依勒特

During Canada’s “Housing Boom”, which ran roughly
1 I$ I$ H1 w- N4 P, |' B' ofrom 2002 to 2008, unsustainable price increases drove
! e1 H+ E  j$ iunsustainable levels of building. Our view is that house
prices exceeded the value of housing that was justified by
( I- U, _4 H6 ufundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
& L$ s/ ?- |4 q9 f! d  woverpricing compelled a level of residential construction
9 V$ ]3 u* ?+ |" z1 |$ h2 z7 hthat exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
! p% Z; X7 i, d; {: g& @12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
three years.
  c4 r. I$ o0 y$ k  K) YBy “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
* e' G4 f$ Y& f/ V: V3 G1 h: T: |2 utheir fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
) T+ k4 e. Y$ e$ q$ c) t% A1 Raffordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
both a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
to fundamentally justified levels.
) [( v. e& J; d/ xWe consider “overbuilding” of two forms: “demanddriven”
where homebuyers buy up too many houses and
that this demand cannot be sustained; and “supply-driven”
where builders accumulate excessive inventories. Although
there is evidence of both types, we contend that Canada’s
“overbuilding” was mainly of the first type, where
homebuyers pushed homebuilding to an unsustainable pitch
/ C- e* V$ x. M. c9 ~& nthat is now being rapidly reined in.
While most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
( G  U( c7 _; j+ vthe construction of too many new homes over the boom
means a deepened slump. This overbuilding will likely weigh
on markets over the next few years. Even as Canada recovers
( v3 n4 l9 g5 j0 Ofrom the cyclical downturn, house price growth will
; m0 P$ g' X1 C; V) V4 Q5 yremain choppy and new residential construction will be
& L& P) Z2 Q. J8 W: X- L3 Cdampened, owing to this structural weakness. Construction
5 B- x! h* Q: i$ N! s6 a# e6 ois now undershooting fundamentals and we expect this
" Q1 s0 \  m" N1 Yto persist over 2009 to 2011. We anticipate that nationwide
residential construction will fall further to around
125,000 starts over 2009 with a trough around 115,000 units
in the fourth quarter.
% K( {) U9 d( l4 t) B: STo quantify the degree of overpricing and overbuilding,
4 W4 Q9 y( i/ ~5 k' }3 c  Rwe first develop an empirical model, based on long-run
fundamentals of house prices and housing starts in each
6 ^" g% Z7 E9 X8 `7 bprovince. Affordability is the key concept behind home
values since house prices should track incomes over the
4 L$ p, g5 P8 t3 Elong-run. Since homebuilders build to meet demand, we
regard housing prices and household formation as the drivers
4 {( i  T& @  o. Y; a, a$ d6 H6 Dof residential construction.
8 ]- a7 l, r4 N4 U9 R% b' ^9 PTo examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
6 |+ d: ~2 [. w' C( `“counter-factual,” asking what level of residential construction
would have occurred if housing had been priced
optimally. We find that actual homebuilding exceeded this
1 p9 z- q& M  g; j3 Efundamental-justified level by about 12%. Although new
units were being absorbed, homebuyers simply bought too
many houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
1 S9 v! d, H! {) j+ K' k' l# pRegionally, we see the greatest strains on the Prairies,
* V# M* P; W8 J- Ywhere housing demand will further contract under waning
( D% S  B, @4 z! Lpopulation inflows. Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton are
already witnessing surges in their unsold new homes at the
very time that the resale market has swung into strong
buyers’ territory. Homebuilding in the Atlantic provinces
) _  ^" i# p6 ?+ M/ L+ O$ h4 Jhas been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
weakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
Québec shows signs of strain – especially given the
strange accumulation of unabsorbed multiples on l’Île de
Montréal – but recent building has been relatively balanced,
given the province’s history of under-building and low ownership
rates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
4 r( S  r- _- v) scyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
limited – with the important exception of the Toronto
( W& ?( l1 N# Ocondo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
high levels of apartment-style units presently under
construction mean that record numbers of condos will
* r$ L0 ?% b8 a2 B: Sreach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
$ d+ t0 P7 W1 ~, M2 _cyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
1 `  r) t4 Z4 P) P; Lspike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
residential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
anticipate that the West Coast will continue to benefit from
inter-provincial and international migration over the coming
# [# }* p: }9 r8 Nyears, which, along with improvements in affordability,
will alleviate some of the pressure from overbuilding.
OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING
MARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
8 ^: `0 r# m" m8 r2 lGrant Bishop, Economist
416-982-8063
Pascal Gauthier, Economist
+ [/ u4 ]* A8 m0 N2 _: B) O+ x416-944-5730
: }3 b% m, e. Q% f  S- i
http://www.td.com/economics/special/gb0409_housing_exec.pdf

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