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
9 |4 t. w+ L* y5 R/ ]% K' ?prices exceeded the value of housing that was justified by
  [: @5 s5 g- F7 E; Ufundamentals by approximately 9% nationwide. This
8 d9 Y* D' d& S) ?4 e7 Loverpricing compelled a level of residential construction
that exceeded its fundamental-justified level by approximately
3 @) z" F0 E9 I. K( w4 F12%, an excess that was exaggerated in the past
: ]0 {0 ?/ n8 y' o9 D. hthree years.
By “overpricing” we mean that prices detached from
7 ]7 K! H0 s# e8 O5 T/ G" E" Ptheir fundamentals, as witnessed by a steep erosion of
- G( @: z# a+ J8 a- i! Zaffordability. The current unwinding of house prices reflects
# m9 g$ S9 o4 G+ J: N; N' m: Uboth a cyclical downturn and a return of house prices
! E+ J+ m4 W* j/ rto 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”
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
that is now being rapidly reined in.
* B7 b2 x- Y; M0 s9 {# R& eWhile most markets won’t face U.S.-style overhangs,
2 Y3 V( u+ Q2 T8 O  B# @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
; `/ d$ p" o- S5 f4 Vdampened, owing to this structural weakness. Construction
is now undershooting fundamentals and we expect this
to persist over 2009 to 2011. We anticipate that nationwide
+ f4 l- |, I$ i+ l- B' Nresidential 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,
, g# C* P1 T2 @( F# K$ Y) I8 Lwe first develop an empirical model, based on long-run
fundamentals of house prices and housing starts in each
4 W  a* W; w" r2 Sprovince. Affordability is the key concept behind home
5 U% Z8 V% x5 e+ |8 f& Kvalues 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
* ~, A& |2 W! [of residential construction.
To examine the degree of overbuilding, we employ a
% P6 X. ~/ b7 D( r! q“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
; [- _$ _' v% i& r  K7 x) funits were being absorbed, homebuyers simply bought too
3 w. j! n. b# m# C" w3 ?, ~+ {many houses at prices that exceeded fundamentals.
Regionally, we see the greatest strains on the Prairies,
where housing demand will further contract under waning
/ R: W, F# m3 Q% t4 T4 v6 S  X" Gpopulation inflows. Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton are
# U9 s4 C) j. S. y8 n; Valready 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
) Q3 e- O; f) o- y/ t3 qhas been relatively balanced but, while not plagued by structural
# j3 ]% \! d" [; m9 [weakness, will be singed by the downturn nonetheless.
Québec shows signs of strain – especially given the
+ Z; c( c* f# U* s- g  Hstrange accumulation of unabsorbed multiples on l’Île de
5 u6 x# L: [1 U( U8 ?Montréal – but recent building has been relatively balanced,
0 Y  U/ B) |; P( [# wgiven the province’s history of under-building and low ownership
rates. While Ontario homebuilding will reel from a
7 {6 d6 A( @# f; G1 Ucyclical downturn, the degree of structural weakness appears
limited – with the important exception of the Toronto
condo market. Both in Toronto and Vancouver, historically
* n) X! Z( c/ `0 d; xhigh levels of apartment-style units presently under
construction mean that record numbers of condos will
reach completion during 2009. If absorption rates fall, as
; e' l$ C0 M2 v* o1 w8 v. l4 Xcyclical factors would indicate, condo inventories could
spike severely – particularly in Vancouver. However, while
3 b! }& H+ m. `! X2 f# t' J' ^residential construction in B.C. will definitely droop, we
anticipate that the West Coast will continue to benefit from
6 h, h. l7 Y. e+ H9 s% }& x/ Q2 b2 linter-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
. r! ^" |  k$ W3 u* ^3 vMARKET RETURNS TO FUNDAMENTALS
" N$ ~0 O, o, T6 ~/ `' y6 w% T- VGrant Bishop, Economist
  ~$ Q4 ]! V, ?/ O" _416-982-8063
, l7 s& B6 |- ?0 r% |$ qPascal Gauthier, Economist
" p( i; P* |; o/ o( O4 S' j416-944-5730

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

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