New survey highlights Canadians' subdued sentiments towards housing and the economy
Canadians’ perspectives on the strength of the economy in the near future is significantly more likely to be negative than positive, according to a new survey by Bloomberg and Nanos Research.
The Bloomberg-Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, a weekly measure of consumers’ financial health and economic expectations, continues to labour under sustained macroeconomic volatility as it registered at 45.56 during the week ending February 10.
This was a slight decline from the 45.62 level seen four weeks prior, and was markedly lower than the 12-month high of 59.88.
“For the past two months, Canadian consumer confidence has remained stable albeit in negative territory with a score under 50 points on the 100-point diffusion index that makes up the Bloomberg-Nanos weekly tracking,” said Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research.
“Forward views on the strength of the economy in six months is four times more likely to be negative than positive.”
While the share of Canadians expecting a stronger national economy over the next half-year improved from 11.78% four weeks prior to 13.33% last week, more than half (51.48%) are still bracing themselves for weaker performance. Another 28.51% believe that the economy will remain stagnant during this period.
Meanwhile, the share of respondents anticipating an increase in home prices in their neighbourhoods over the next six months fell from 22.11% to 19.72%. Nearly two in five Canadians (38.79%) are expecting steady prices, and a similar proportion (37.23%) said that they are preparing for price declines.
