TD Bank:OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING

依勒特

During Canada’s “Housing Boom”, which ran roughly
9 |7 P2 j' F% n0 E6 wfrom 2002 to 2008, unsustainable price increases drove
9 q; n* E3 ]. b) ounsustainable levels of building. Our view is that house
2 z' ?. y& P+ O0 d1 zprices exceeded the value of housing that was justified by
" L& G. Z! W4 i3 h7 J/ q) L; r- T: ]fundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
3 w' E& A4 W' o% R$ Hoverpricing compelled a level of residential construction
2 V$ X; D: z, H, @. Q" E; ethat exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
; ^$ D* n9 e4 X9 i7 Z0 P8 p12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
three years.
  `' V+ b% C9 ~" [1 g% |By “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
their fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
affordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
both a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
/ ]+ m0 j6 n9 g0 M( v+ Jto fundamentally justified levels.
, x: y/ L% B" r6 KWe consider “overbuilding” of two forms: “demanddriven”
  Q* d- J; ~# d& h! q9 {8 uwhere homebuyers buy up too many houses and
( F3 u6 @/ y( \: N* Kthat 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
$ L; b  ?0 x& `( n“overbuilding” was mainly of the first type, where
- p( o' I% j# b5 Zhomebuyers pushed homebuilding to an unsustainable pitch
that is now being rapidly reined in.
While most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
the construction of too many new homes over the boom
" W: v. N/ d; k4 C8 Ameans 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
% M' p& A' F( M1 z) m# V# }remain choppy and new residential construction will be
dampened, owing to this structural weakness. Construction
- X- O- j1 z1 G7 r+ ais now undershooting fundamentals and we expect this
to persist over 2009 to 2011. We anticipate that nationwide
1 u7 c" o$ q( s' Fresidential construction will fall further to around
3 S. y8 O' Z* u6 i) H8 h1 x125,000 starts over 2009 with a trough around 115,000 units
in the fourth quarter.
; _& j: j6 y- x4 j6 {8 yTo quantify the degree of overpricing and overbuilding,
/ R% C9 c2 {# D% {1 ^* xwe first develop an empirical model, based on long-run
+ O% Y1 I, Z$ U% \fundamentals of house prices and housing starts in each
province. Affordability is the key concept behind home
values since house prices should track incomes over the
# I7 a. a* J! F" u0 o  ?long-run. Since homebuilders build to meet demand, we
regard housing prices and household formation as the drivers
. F( W# l) ?: q3 Lof residential construction.
To examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
' _' K* A: n2 D, a) z% F3 ]$ ]“counter-factual,” asking what level of residential construction
would have occurred if housing had been priced
2 ~2 ^2 L3 U' a# }optimally. We find that actual homebuilding exceeded this
fundamental-justified level by about 12%. Although new
units were being absorbed, homebuyers simply bought too
many houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
Regionally, we see the greatest strains on the Prairies,
where housing demand will further contract under waning
, G  H1 Y* e* W) o4 M9 ~. ~( rpopulation 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
. r2 r! N" x$ a9 s- S" G1 ?has been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
weakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
4 R" T, o$ b/ _! P$ HQuébec shows signs of strain – especially given the
strange accumulation of unabsorbed multiples on l’Île de
! N9 O0 i7 d) [& |* }Montréal – but recent building has been relatively balanced,
/ m) R! B3 o2 N( ?4 ggiven the province’s history of under-building and low ownership
1 A* Y# X" u% z& vrates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
cyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
limited – with the important exception of the Toronto
& n8 T1 B5 c8 i' n! x& Pcondo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
high levels of apartment-style units presently under
7 B' |9 U2 h/ E" u* H' @construction mean that record numbers of condos will
reach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
9 E5 W) G' r' }- v6 Acyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
spike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
1 r7 i, ^) O; Z: Q# `% ~; hresidential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
; F+ L( S9 {1 z, Q- vanticipate that the West Coast will continue to benefit from
inter-provincial and international migration over the coming
years, which, along with improvements in affordability,
( b& `: f: V& vwill alleviate some of the pressure from overbuilding.
OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING
MARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
Grant Bishop, Economist
416-982-8063
8 w: P  Y3 r6 `+ wPascal Gauthier, Economist
416-944-5730
! w( H# s8 S$ u" k3 E9 h
% c: I  j% G  N3 ?; {2 E: F2 M! \http://www.td.com/economics/special/gb0409_housing_exec.pdf

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