Analyst: CMHC to blame for pending 40-50 per cent price correction

A leading financial advisor is projecting a 40-50 per cent housing price correction and is laying the blame on the CMHC.

A leading financial advisor is projecting a 40-50 per cent housing price correction and is laying the blame on the CMHC.

Puffed up by years of ultra-low borrowing rates, home values have bloated to levels so far out of sync with the underlying incomes needed to support them, it’s only a matter of time before one headwind or another blows over the house of cards.

According to Global News, a new book, When the Bubble Bursts, was released this month across the country, and is one of the most fulsome looks yet at the current state of Canada’s much-fretted over real estate market. Author Hilliard MacBeth says the Canadian real estate market is poised for a painful 40 to 50 per cent drop in value when the bubble pops.

“The availability of financing. Canada is unique in the world in the availability of government insurance through CMHC [Canada Mortgage and House Corp.], that’s allowed the lenders to lend a phenomenal amount of money. [Household] debt levels have gone from one trillion dollars to $1.8 trillion, just in 15 years," the report says.

“I think the government has genuinely tried to encourage the housing market and home ownership, which started after the Second World War. But in the last 15 years it’s kind of taken on a life of its own. It’s this monster that nobody can really tame. The reality is, lenders don’t really take any risk, so they keep on providing more and more [loans].”