The Bubble In Canada

Canadian Households Getting More And More Leveraged


By international standards, Canada survived the financial crisis pretty well.

Now we're seeing indications that our neighbor to the north was only delaying the inevitable. Canadians are way more indebted than Americans (via Matt Phillips):



Canadian banks may have gone bailout free during the credit crisis, but household debt has now spiked to a record 165% of disposable income.

While U.S. home prices plummeted in the wake of the crisis, and are just now starting to show signs of life, Canada's house prices have risen a ridiculous 123% since January 2000.

We're seeing a classic housing bubble near burst, with Toronto home sales slumping 10% in the first half of May while prices simultaneously climbed 5.4% like it was no big deal.

Canada's economists may try to cushion worry with talk of a "soft landing" of future price drops, but the country is highly levered and its homes are crazy overvalued.