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
unsustainable levels of building. Our view is that house
prices exceeded the value of housing that was justified by
) b9 U, ^% v3 W/ W- ]+ _" mfundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
overpricing compelled a level of residential construction
that exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
4 P* [2 B2 E* }, W* c  d$ \, f12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
+ k) S; u9 s- e) G% |) |( Mthree years.
By “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
their fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
8 D' x: u0 X' `* Saffordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
6 E! P  M- m( @5 @1 O9 B# H) _both a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
" \1 X. U, x. z0 |# bto fundamentally justified levels.
3 c# F2 m0 i2 WWe consider “overbuilding” of two forms: “demanddriven”
+ L4 N! ^8 c: _4 }where homebuyers buy up too many houses and
) I, A. s6 t* I( v9 N3 r7 `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
7 |. L# L6 \3 i“overbuilding” was mainly of the first type, where
* ?8 T. L7 u2 X7 U8 uhomebuyers pushed homebuilding to an unsustainable pitch
that is now being rapidly reined in.
2 t: n6 t5 l8 W# |# \3 e% d: sWhile most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
3 Y) q4 V0 N, C% n0 n/ x! d( Nthe construction of too many new homes over the boom
- A3 _$ p+ M3 ?8 `means a deepened slump. This overbuilding will likely weigh
# r. l( r4 ~2 k+ A/ hon 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
- r- |" h0 |  a# w8 Z& B/ ois now undershooting fundamentals and we expect this
to persist over 2009 to 2011. We anticipate that nationwide
/ L9 [8 L% d9 s3 f% Q/ ^% ]residential construction will fall further to around
125,000 starts over 2009 with a trough around 115,000 units
in the fourth quarter.
To quantify the degree of overpricing and overbuilding,
* d' x& x1 s/ l, |: W. Qwe first develop an empirical model, based on long-run
fundamentals of house prices and housing starts in each
province. Affordability is the key concept behind home
$ @; c6 M( l$ {: Z# c6 Ivalues since house prices should track incomes over the
# H/ y! M  {8 m% Clong-run. Since homebuilders build to meet demand, we
regard housing prices and household formation as the drivers
of residential construction.
0 W; P/ F1 I" v2 K# y4 _To examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
  A7 C7 |1 N2 |. 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
fundamental-justified level by about 12%. Although new
units were being absorbed, homebuyers simply bought too
1 R; S+ D$ B/ Y5 _2 }" C. `many houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
8 q% K/ @3 I; q9 m" }; mRegionally, we see the greatest strains on the Prairies,
! A7 N  F/ ]9 O2 f& Ywhere housing demand will further contract under waning
population inflows. Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton are
# c6 G5 |' U; H/ ^: W; @' e$ b7 C$ x4 Malready witnessing surges in their unsold new homes at the
very time that the resale market has swung into strong
8 u1 @, k5 `4 D# lbuyers’ territory. Homebuilding in the Atlantic provinces
has been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
weakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
% u, `4 @- I% f& s( }9 IQuébec shows signs of strain – especially given the
2 ^5 U9 D. G0 zstrange 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
8 S+ p/ ^! _4 `rates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
cyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
, @! P. G9 v0 h: {: wlimited – with the important exception of the Toronto
condo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
0 W, }$ ~$ Z9 M4 Yhigh levels of apartment-style units presently under
construction mean that record numbers of condos will
) \. x6 T3 t/ J9 Rreach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
3 V" V; u! F* _, h0 w8 O3 zcyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
spike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
" v$ D; ]# u4 z/ ^7 wresidential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
, l1 ]/ T' l% [# Wanticipate that the West Coast will continue to benefit from
inter-provincial and international migration over the coming
years, which, along with improvements in affordability,
will alleviate some of the pressure from overbuilding.
3 R* U+ ^- s2 j- \% \OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING
MARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
Grant Bishop, Economist
416-982-8063
Pascal Gauthier, Economist
% p9 T# Z9 d$ U2 b1 J; f7 m416-944-5730

! D# n7 G( s' t& M1 lhttp://www.td.com/economics/special/gb0409_housing_exec.pdf

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