Datastream

White Hot North: Residential Real Estate Investment in Canada

Published

2 years ago

May 16, 2021

Avery Koop

residential real estate investment

The Briefing

Residential investment made up 9.3% of Canada’s GDP as of Q4’2020
For context, U.S. residential real estate investment peaked in 2006 at 6.7% of the country’s GDP (just before the infamous housing crash) and it currently sits at 4.3%

White Hot North: Residential Real Estate Investment in Canada

Residential real estate is breaking records in Canada. As of Q4’2020, it accounted for 9.3% of the country’s GDP.

The purchase, sale, and construction of new homes in Canada currently makes up more of the country’s economy than it does in any other developed country.

There’s No Place Like Home

So why is there so much investment going into building residential structures? Here’s a look at just a few reasons:

Increased immigration to Canada
Falling mortgage rates
Increased saving rates

The steady flow of immigration into Canada is a significant factor behind increased residential real estate investment. Prior to the pandemic, the country welcomed around 300,000 newcomers per year—increasing the demand for housing, particularly in urban hubs like Toronto and Vancouver.

Mortgage rates have also been steadily falling, making it easier to purchase a home. As of the latest 2020 data Canadian 5-year uninsured mortgage rates sat at 2.1%, compared to a steep peak in the beginning of 2019 at 3.7%.

Additionally, some individuals may have become more capable of affording a new home as increased saving rates have become a widespread trend during the pandemic, potentially adding to demand. This combined with increasingly flexible remote work options are increasing real estate activity around the country.

Higher Stress Tests

The increased demand has caused prices to skyrocket. As it stands now, if the housing bubble doesn’t burst, prices will continue to rise, and could become a major wedge separating those who can afford the increasing prices and those who cannot.

Two major Canadian cities—Vancouver and Toronto—are already among the least affordable cities in the world due to low vacancy rates and the immense demand.

According to CBC, the country’s top banking regulator is making a proposal to raise the mortgage stress test level. The idea is to raise it to 5.25% or 2 percentage points above the market rate, whichever is higher. This would be up from the current rate of 4.79% posted rate at Canada’s biggest lenders.

Borrowers will have to prove their ability to take out a loan at the higher rate, regardless of the lender’s ability to provide the loan at a lower one, in order to relieve some of the pressure on housing prices.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Stats Can, Better Dwelling
Notes: The definition of what constitutes residential construction includes major renovations, construction, and ownership transfer fees.

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Money

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

Published

1 week ago

May 23, 2023

Marcus Lu

The Briefing

Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.

More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.

Methodology and Results

The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.

Year	Fed chair	% Great deal or Fair amount
2023	Jerome Powell	36%
2022	Jerome Powell	43%
2021	Jerome Powell	55%
2020	Jerome Powell	58%
2019	Jerome Powell	50%
2018	Jerome Powell	45%
2017	Janet Yellen	45%
2016	Janet Yellen	38%
2015	Janet Yellen	42%
2014	Janet Yellen	37%
2013	Ben Bernanke	42%
2012	Ben Bernanke	39%
2011	Ben Bernanke	41%
2010	Ben Bernanke	44%
2009	Ben Bernanke	49%
2008	Ben Bernanke	47%
2007	Ben Bernanke	50%
2006	Ben Bernanke	41%
2005	Alan Greenspan	56%
2004	Alan Greenspan	61%
2003	Alan Greenspan	65%
2002	Alan Greenspan	69%
2001	Alan Greenspan	74%

Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”

We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.

For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.

On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.

Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.

Confidence Now on the Decline

After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.

This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:

Negative impact on the stock market
Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable

Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Gallup (2023)

Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.