TD Bank:OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING

依勒特

During Canada’s “Housing Boom”, which ran roughly
, b4 K& q) x/ w) Qfrom 2002 to 2008, unsustainable price increases drove
3 N, z" q9 `4 e* x5 {unsustainable levels of building. Our view is that house
0 j/ P3 W+ t& h( t" u6 zprices exceeded the value of housing that was justified by
fundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
# K$ `% C+ h; ]7 s* `& Y7 Ioverpricing compelled a level of residential construction
that exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
three years.
! b7 l  q$ y. o2 WBy “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
- k" |. S8 L* U7 Y# W. Utheir fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
+ n3 t) u7 H' X% I: G/ zaffordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
" P- {- B1 A  r. e2 R  W/ ]5 ^  jboth a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
to fundamentally justified levels.
We consider “overbuilding” of two forms: “demanddriven”
' v5 Z8 U" W0 e; S# zwhere homebuyers buy up too many houses and
* g2 k! `6 e+ hthat this demand cannot be sustained; and “supply-driven”
where builders accumulate excessive inventories. Although
  ~: g( w" o! Pthere is evidence of both types, we contend that Canada’s
/ a! Q5 u5 r3 Q: O( }! f“overbuilding” was mainly of the first type, where
' z9 M" ~. N, v7 b$ Shomebuyers pushed homebuilding to an unsustainable pitch
that is now being rapidly reined in.
% x' Y; q* p" p% g5 [While most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
# o$ E1 c/ L1 X( w5 b4 cthe 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
from the cyclical downturn, house price growth will
remain choppy and new residential construction will be
dampened, owing to this structural weakness. Construction
4 D) {( J! c8 p2 v4 A9 uis now undershooting fundamentals and we expect this
to persist over 2009 to 2011. We anticipate that nationwide
% K  M  Y% C, ]residential construction will fall further to around
4 ^* ]. x1 V: L/ `8 c, }/ t125,000 starts over 2009 with a trough around 115,000 units
' f/ d. L# F6 I* Y; gin the fourth quarter.
( d3 c* ~! v) C& X4 T4 kTo quantify the degree of overpricing and overbuilding,
we first develop an empirical model, based on long-run
; \2 s( T% ]: [, hfundamentals of house prices and housing starts in each
5 g& H" v  h% U( N3 R2 c5 zprovince. Affordability is the key concept behind home
values since house prices should track incomes over the
9 ^& R+ p  L+ ^) I1 v% nlong-run. Since homebuilders build to meet demand, we
8 L: A3 T: E8 {/ d! Hregard housing prices and household formation as the drivers
of residential construction.
To examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
: s; D. X( D5 I8 j4 q, p! R. X“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 D( {5 }4 C8 ~3 b) z. D6 G( Hfundamental-justified level by about 12%. Although new
( l' S* R( x! L% g- g2 Zunits were being absorbed, homebuyers simply bought too
3 s% j  [+ ^9 h! y, qmany houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
Regionally, we see the greatest strains on the Prairies,
where housing demand will further contract under waning
population 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
has been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
) z& N7 V& L. xweakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
% W- L" N# r/ b& w4 g* y, c, ^Québec shows signs of strain – especially given the
6 [$ K, y2 J9 J- M2 z( T- kstrange accumulation of unabsorbed multiples on l’Île de
/ R# I# k/ H' e; y* }$ H) j% y, jMontréal – but recent building has been relatively balanced,
given the province’s history of under-building and low ownership
" Y2 n; a* F3 b4 C# Y0 q, Nrates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
cyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
' `8 O0 i1 }( s7 J  W3 K& \+ D/ t- rlimited – with the important exception of the Toronto
condo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
high levels of apartment-style units presently under
+ }) W( ^* a5 w+ J- cconstruction mean that record numbers of condos will
reach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
cyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
/ w( w' Z4 o$ B( d! M0 Nspike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
residential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
# }9 h' l3 i. E( O5 u8 ?5 f' oanticipate that the West Coast will continue to benefit from
inter-provincial and international migration over the coming
6 X* C3 d; ]& S1 }1 vyears, which, along with improvements in affordability,
5 U1 Y" O+ e& i, [0 t3 zwill alleviate some of the pressure from overbuilding.
OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING
MARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
Grant Bishop, Economist
416-982-8063
4 [! o6 z9 {3 @: v" d: ^9 APascal Gauthier, Economist
416-944-5730

http://www.td.com/economics/special/gb0409_housing_exec.pdf

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