The Housing Problem, A Real Crisis?: A Primer on Housing Markets, Policies, and Problems

Karl Burak was a solicitor in North Vancouver, B.C.

Combine 25 years of housing and income statistics, some basic analysis of supply and demand for housing, a fair, unbiased reading of the behavior of the market at the macro and micro levels in booms and bust, some plausible market projections, and a hefty volume of unanswered questions — the result is a respectable primer on housing markets, policies, and problems in Canada. This primer teaches the rudiments of economics while exploding the myths and misconceptions we tend to accept and accumulate over time, particularly where our exposure is to a limited part of the market which reflects an identifiable need.

The Housing Problem gives a sufficiently broad overview to bring into focus a general historical trend of matching income levels and house prices, a generally improving quality of Canadian housing stock, and a significant desire for and expectation of rising house prices. While undoubtedly there is a class of low-income Canadians whose interest is in lower prices for housing, for middle-income Canadians dissatisfaction is usually a question of unrealistic expectations and not a question of lower quality or unaffordable housing. In fact, the majority of homeowners, the 60 per cent of households in Canada that own their own housing, have a vested interest in higher prices.

Where will it lead? While recognizing exceptions in some local markets and special needs of households on inadequate incomes, Professor Goldberg says there will not be a substantial housing crisis in Canada in the future. Canadian housing stock is improving; it is unlikely that prices and rents will outstrip average incomes; and, in fact, steadily increasing house prices will be “a measure of our success at building and maintaining liveable cities.” I believe him.

We have had the primer, apparently to the specifications of the Economic Council of Canada. It is “simultaneously rigorous and rooted in sound academic research while comprehensible to the interested but technically untrained average Canadian.” Given the calibre of the primer, an investment of time and energy to produce a sophisticated textbook about this significant subject is quite in order.