Real Estate Optimism Sparks New Life into Canadian Consumers

(Bloomberg) -- Consumer sentiment in Canada showed renewed strength on an improving outlook for real estate and the economy, weekly telephone polling showed.

The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, a composite measure of financial health and economic expectations, recorded its biggest one-week jump since mid-June, to 48.4 from 46.7 a week earlier. It’s now made up more than half of losses since falling to record lows in early May.

The uptick is a welcome sign after the index recently stalled, despite the country moving forward with reopening plans and Covid-19 case counts staying relatively low. With millions of Canadians still out of work and receiving government aid, views on personal finances and job security remain low and economists have pointed out the country is still years away from a full recovery.

Every week, Nanos Research surveys 250 Canadians for their views on personal finances, job security and their outlook for the economy and real estate prices. Bloomberg publishes four-week rolling averages of the 1,000 responses.

Survey Highlights

• Real estate sentiment remains the one consistent upbeat indicator, continuing its upward trend. The latest reading shows 28% of respondents expect the value of housing in their neighborhood to increase in the next six months. That’s up from just 9% two months ago
• Views that the economy will be stronger in the next six months jumped 3 percentage points to 23%. This is in line with recent indicators like retail spending, employment and inflation that suggests the economy is rebounding in the summer months in the immediate aftermath of reopening plans across the country
• Confidence is lowest among Canadians 40 to 49 and highest among those age 60 and over
• Sentiment on the prairies is the most depressed, due to the doubly-whammy of the pandemic and a drop in oil prices; Quebec recorded the highest confidence levels in the country

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