TD Bank:OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING

依勒特

During Canada’s “Housing Boom”, which ran roughly
from 2002 to 2008, unsustainable price increases drove
8 m( z3 c5 _6 N; d. xunsustainable levels of building. Our view is that house
% |( z" r# C7 c$ A% Y2 u: Dprices exceeded the value of housing that was justified by
7 k0 M2 X, ~  w, V# U! f4 efundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
2 e) E9 O, J' P( f0 m( o4 Uoverpricing compelled a level of residential construction
that exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
: A" h6 s- F7 f- l5 V! ?" e  ]three years.
By “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
their fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
1 h! {- @- [3 o+ Iaffordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
- I3 Z* _, M9 i( Z( Dboth a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
to fundamentally justified levels.
We consider “overbuilding” of two forms: “demanddriven”
where homebuyers buy up too many houses and
that this demand cannot be sustained; and “supply-driven”
  J! H  w5 C4 w8 K3 p4 K8 Swhere builders accumulate excessive inventories. Although
there is evidence of both types, we contend that Canada’s
“overbuilding” was mainly of the first type, where
- J$ `4 @) I% s6 \homebuyers pushed homebuilding to an unsustainable pitch
4 [& z/ e5 A3 Z; x& Mthat is now being rapidly reined in.
" Z7 }" i# S4 i/ }% o( {8 A. GWhile most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
the 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
is now undershooting fundamentals and we expect this
to persist over 2009 to 2011. We anticipate that nationwide
' N4 }* _# O/ g4 @residential construction will fall further to around
) c, O, g& i$ u* b1 l5 F125,000 starts over 2009 with a trough around 115,000 units
in the fourth quarter.
To quantify the degree of overpricing and overbuilding,
we first develop an empirical model, based on long-run
fundamentals of house prices and housing starts in each
' x5 q7 ]' [% n# N1 |6 O  {1 i, Rprovince. Affordability is the key concept behind home
) f* @4 E/ M3 _/ |5 |% Z! rvalues since house prices should track incomes over the
( ]4 u1 N; _9 }" U3 Ylong-run. Since homebuilders build to meet demand, we
regard housing prices and household formation as the drivers
of residential construction.
To examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
; |2 o: G9 b! @  ?8 ?“counter-factual,” asking what level of residential construction
/ @" F! x* k. N; Fwould have occurred if housing had been priced
optimally. We find that actual homebuilding exceeded this
; ^) F3 ~' V( s% l3 r- X) Efundamental-justified level by about 12%. Although new
  g, V7 M/ h+ e5 I2 v6 ?2 Punits were being absorbed, homebuyers simply bought too
many houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
& d9 d! C" b' S& n. e' vRegionally, we see the greatest strains on the Prairies,
where housing demand will further contract under waning
population inflows. Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton are
; S7 O) U0 v2 b) N! jalready witnessing surges in their unsold new homes at the
very time that the resale market has swung into strong
! t, F) y( e) F8 _; ~4 X; l0 cbuyers’ territory. Homebuilding in the Atlantic provinces
has been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
weakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
. f: t" W' v+ N2 d! S2 ?" K1 BQuébec shows signs of strain – especially given the
8 V- }, ^5 Y# @+ ~, E6 k5 nstrange accumulation of unabsorbed multiples on l’Île de
Montréal – but recent building has been relatively balanced,
2 W  ~/ R( x  w6 w( {given the province’s history of under-building and low ownership
rates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
4 j* g8 O7 S6 O: S! k1 R% _cyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
! ^' A- T( z% Slimited – with the important exception of the Toronto
2 l, ?( Y* O6 `# bcondo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
high levels of apartment-style units presently under
' a4 n* J1 n4 t# I2 _1 oconstruction mean that record numbers of condos will
* e6 `4 m+ n* S3 O) xreach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
- ]/ K* p% l- O+ V6 \cyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
spike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
residential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
# D2 E7 G, a1 G. ranticipate that the West Coast will continue to benefit from
7 y# B0 K; L( r' f: e. {. P+ @inter-provincial and international migration over the coming
years, which, along with improvements in affordability,
will alleviate some of the pressure from overbuilding.
OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING
0 u" V+ ]7 T# h6 OMARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
Grant Bishop, Economist
. u# ~% T7 \) D7 L' J% P416-982-8063
Pascal Gauthier, Economist
" ?7 |+ W  i( C. B416-944-5730

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

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