A large share of Canadian consumers are bracing for a weaker economy and stagnant home value growth
Canadians’ positive sentiments towards the real estate sector and the economy have reached a new low, according to polling by Bloomberg and Nanos Research.
The Bloomberg-Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, with a current 12-month high of 66.42, registered at 59.18 as of the week ending Dec. 17, versus 60.05 four weeks prior.
“Although overall consumer confidence remains relatively steady, the forward-looking question on the future strength of the Canadian economy has hit a one-year low in terms of positive sentiment,” said Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research.
Only 21.6% of respondents said that they think that the Canadian economy will be stronger in the next six months, while 42.12% said that they are bracing for weaker performance and 28.23% said that they are uncertain of the economy’s prospects.
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The share of those believing that home prices in their respective neighbourhoods will be higher in the next six months was much higher (59.73%), although a non-negligible proportion of respondents said that home values will be stagnant (28.99%) or declining (7.92%) during this period.
Sentiments towards household and personal finances were the most muted, with 21.29% saying that they were better off financially over the past year, while 27.04% said that they were worse off and 50.51% said that there has been no meaningful changes that they can observe.
