Housing prices have gone up a lot. The housing market is very elevated and we cannot continue to see the kinds of increases in housing prices or the kind of growth rate we've seen in housing. I just want to be very clear on that right off the top.
Why have housing prices gone up so much? It's a combination of the fact that there's been a lot of demand for housing and there's been limited supply. I know that a number of witnesses before the committee have talked quite a bit about supply—CMHC as well as others. The fundamental solution to reducing house price increases is to increase the supply of housing in this country. That's what's actually going to get people into the houses they want.
I am pleased to see that across different levels of government there is more focus on supply. This issue of high housing prices and elevated household indebtedness as people stretch to buy those houses has been going on for the last seven or eight years. This predates the pandemic. The pandemic has, like it has for so many things, intensified it.