Canada’s housing boom loosing steam

The Conference Board of Canada is warning of “a lengthy slowdown” in Canada’s residential construction industry with profits, already off 22 per cent in 2007, falling for the next two years. The longest housing boom in the post-war era is now “out of breath,” following spectacular growth in the number of homes built and the prices paid for them, the board said in a report released Thursday. “Satiated pent-up demand and slower economic growth is leading to what is expected will be a long slowdown in the housing market,” the report says.

After years of “relentless” house-price increases, declining affordability will be one of the primary factors weighing on the market, board economist Valerie Poulin said in an interview.