TD Bank:OVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING

依勒特

During Canada’s “Housing Boom”, which ran roughly
( l! |. Z6 h1 a* D/ J& q& D2 }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
fundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
overpricing compelled a level of residential construction
4 ~, @2 i7 R, R- ]1 e+ C" i6 g# t* A/ Qthat exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
; f+ G  y; c8 X7 q  u9 j6 b1 t; W12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
three years.
5 S; q# w0 y- c3 y- pBy “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
2 n4 h  A& y: w. f" s5 Qtheir fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
# P  Z' y0 }( Q+ xaffordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
+ ^. u9 o& b9 N0 uboth a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
to fundamentally justified levels.
# B3 u$ |9 T9 ?  U/ W+ qWe consider “overbuilding” of two forms: “demanddriven”
where homebuyers buy up too many houses and
' v1 p& o( c; ~7 _  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
“overbuilding” was mainly of the first type, where
homebuyers pushed homebuilding to an unsustainable pitch
4 h! [" N% e2 e( t% Gthat is now being rapidly reined in.
While most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
6 }+ @  U$ c. @$ y# Uthe construction of too many new homes over the boom
2 H1 K# u1 o. ?2 q" f5 O7 ameans a deepened slump. This overbuilding will likely weigh
4 H" \1 i3 e! X) o( H0 A2 won markets over the next few years. Even as Canada recovers
1 ]6 h6 k' d6 |  _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
- r& c# L" C) Presidential construction will fall further to around
" Z' y1 A  ~: j7 I4 V$ V125,000 starts over 2009 with a trough around 115,000 units
) m8 j/ K; i8 J* b" D2 n* Ain the fourth quarter.
To quantify the degree of overpricing and overbuilding,
we first develop an empirical model, based on long-run
8 c+ D- {" A7 l3 B3 Ufundamentals 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
long-run. Since homebuilders build to meet demand, we
  Z4 X" G) h: x/ _" X* X  G3 Fregard housing prices and household formation as the drivers
of residential construction.
To examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
“counter-factual,” asking what level of residential construction
1 `! N: n, g& j5 A2 r; U  [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
many houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
# f: J; f; n" H! _$ x( y+ ERegionally, 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
9 k# x' K9 u7 q6 X9 a& wvery time that the resale market has swung into strong
, l3 y1 j8 Y. h6 b0 Cbuyers’ territory. Homebuilding in the Atlantic provinces
! w! }" v8 B4 Mhas been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
5 \2 |/ X5 l2 i) u: iweakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
Québec 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, x" K% T5 x) n3 j7 Qgiven the province’s history of under-building and low ownership
; M5 a9 V, p  S$ m% mrates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
cyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
0 }, I7 B  V6 n- E/ r/ `% ~limited – with the important exception of the Toronto
condo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
. c" v( f+ h- [. g; {high levels of apartment-style units presently under
construction mean that record numbers of condos will
reach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
" ^7 V6 n/ R- j4 u5 p2 ~9 A4 Ocyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
spike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
residential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
* \# o' s% z- Banticipate 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.
7 c$ J- x; A3 v8 D5 j7 bOVERPRICED AND OVERBUILT: CANADIAN HOUSING
$ b6 m% P" q) hMARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
Grant Bishop, Economist
416-982-8063
Pascal Gauthier, Economist
416-944-5730
! C- ?( \- q+ G: I+ n
http://www.td.com/economics/special/gb0409_housing_exec.pdf

宋兵乙