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
) y8 k' s+ z% c% Eunsustainable levels of building. Our view is that house
/ f9 ?6 ?+ f% D: U3 b# Uprices exceeded the value of housing that was justified by
fundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
overpricing compelled a level of residential construction
9 y0 ^7 f' G, Othat exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
three years.
. M: j. d4 w( |5 ?5 P- S. PBy “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
their fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
affordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
8 @+ ~: ~& A! fboth a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
# Y# B2 M/ J* C2 `. E7 xto fundamentally justified levels.
6 Z2 d1 W( a7 h9 L9 Y; ZWe consider “overbuilding” of two forms: “demanddriven”
where homebuyers buy up too many houses and
% A5 l( \7 Z# i, ythat this demand cannot be sustained; and “supply-driven”
where builders accumulate excessive inventories. Although
3 g5 A- H4 b( _8 qthere is evidence of both types, we contend that Canada’s
“overbuilding” was mainly of the first type, where
; s0 S  w' s0 x9 fhomebuyers pushed homebuilding to an unsustainable pitch
$ [9 s8 O( g- z: `& B- i, h" Pthat is now being rapidly reined in.
! s( J$ W3 }% }0 g2 k- i, p2 U: `While most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
the construction of too many new homes over the boom
: j% l4 j2 [: ]- T1 W; J  @means a deepened slump. This overbuilding will likely weigh
on markets over the next few years. Even as Canada recovers
, [" M+ T. L& \( _& Ufrom 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
residential construction will fall further to around
7 k+ e& O5 [& o: O8 l  V$ E125,000 starts over 2009 with a trough around 115,000 units
2 u8 D3 C1 V6 I1 ~9 nin 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
9 K! Q: b: S2 I: ?$ t/ @province. Affordability is the key concept behind home
values since house prices should track incomes over the
long-run. Since homebuilders build to meet demand, we
regard housing prices and household formation as the drivers
of residential construction.
1 _# @% c# \2 Q. c! F: XTo examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
5 a/ C7 [6 n* w7 x8 F6 _“counter-factual,” asking what level of residential construction
4 x, h# Q8 [5 i! A: I# vwould have occurred if housing had been priced
optimally. We find that actual homebuilding exceeded this
fundamental-justified level by about 12%. Although new
  ^" o- s) `0 Gunits were being absorbed, homebuyers simply bought too
0 e3 N& q+ P+ A! n2 E" Imany houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
Regionally, we see the greatest strains on the Prairies,
4 j! A6 v' L- H# O5 ^: p. Pwhere housing demand will further contract under waning
" b& @3 k  ?0 D2 S- `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
" G7 K2 r! m8 {+ j  l7 V1 Gbuyers’ territory. Homebuilding in the Atlantic provinces
+ q; f7 }6 t, Dhas been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
# @3 e# y1 Q- |# l. N5 q1 j! F( D7 W& }weakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
. R7 z) {' n4 o3 q" e/ o- G# x4 FQuébec shows signs of strain – especially given the
strange accumulation of unabsorbed multiples on l’Île de
Montréal – but recent building has been relatively balanced,
, ]: P; i8 H5 H, b* @given the province’s history of under-building and low ownership
rates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
cyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
, {9 `% J9 F( |  q& ~0 mlimited – with the important exception of the Toronto
condo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
high levels of apartment-style units presently under
construction mean that record numbers of condos will
: v% w+ K; n4 r9 L& qreach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
cyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
( R, M" R( L2 s% \" H1 }4 t& wspike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
" K& \  E$ V& ?residential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
anticipate that the West Coast will continue to benefit from
' A; a& E- i, s0 Xinter-provincial and international migration over the coming
years, which, along with improvements in affordability,
) e5 `6 Y+ g! d4 dwill alleviate some of the pressure from overbuilding.
OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING
MARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
, W  ]; t( Z* U0 I, NGrant Bishop, Economist
416-982-8063
+ R9 |$ J) W4 K4 C7 R7 r/ lPascal Gauthier, Economist
416-944-5730

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

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