There has been a fair amount of media coverage over the last few days from an interesting, recently released stat from StatsCan on Canadian net wealth. It seems we’re a lucky country – our net wealth has topped $11 trillion, and our economy produces goods and services worth near $2 trillion.
The $11 trillion net wealth number was not a surprise for experts, but what has piqued the interest of observers has been the real estate component of that huge net wealth figure. The value of real estate represents over 75% of our net wealth, or just under $8.8 trillion.
Over the last decade, real estate rose from comprising roughly 62% of Canada’s net wealth to the aforementioned figure. Canadians are much more dependent on real estate for their wealth than Americans – in the US, real estate has generally held steady at just over 70% of net wealth. This statistic corresponds to the general macro-economic trend that has continued in Canada over the last decade, where low interest rates and government policies have leaned on real estate and construction to drive growth. Low interest rates, strong demand, and the inability of the private sector to consistently build enough housing has all acted as fuel to real estate prices, and thus equity and net wealth.
Canadians Are More Dependant On Housing For Their Wealth Than Ever Before
Most Canadians hold the view that inevitably over the long term, their home equity will continue to rise. Many baby boomers and older Canadians are depending on this (rising) equity to supplement their pensions for consumption in retirement and to pass resources on to their children and grandchildren. This belief in relentless home price increases should have been tempered given the turbulence the national real estate market experienced over the last year and a half. The stats show that we are more dependent on housing for our wealth than ever before in our history, and even more so than our real estate crazy neighbours to the south. What we must all remember is that so much of this wealth is based on debt, and that debt needs to be serviced through discipline.