You’ve probably seen some version of these two charts before, they highlight the insane run-up in Canadian house prices compared to their richer neighbours to the south.
The spread is clear here:
via @deerpointmacro
It’s led to outrageous house prices and looks unsustainable, especially with benchmark 5-year benchmark Canadian mortgage rates near 5% but the market hasn’t cracked.
Here’s the char that explains why, from @benrabidoux. It shows Canadian permanent resident admissions, including a record 183,000 admissions in April alone. Canada is adding 1 million immigrants per year to a population of 37 million.
The Canadian housing market is a simple story of supply and demand. The country is overburdened with building regulations despite the world’s second-largest landmass and there’s no way to keep up with the amount of people entering the country.
Even if people can’t pay their mortgage, someone is there to take the house at full price.