Canadian consumer confidence edge higher last week but remains below the optimism at the start of 2018.
The Bloomberg/Nanos Canadian Consumer Confidence Index registered 55.51 for the week ending January 4, 2019, up from 55.09 a week earlier. But a year ago it was above 60 and the high for the past 12 months was 61.91.
The sub-index which tracks personal finances and job security increased to 60.54 from 59.40 four weeks earlier while the sub-index tracking expectation for the economy and real estate was up from 47.81 four weeks ago to 50.48 last week.
Most respondents believe that real estate prices will stay the same in the first half of this year (40.25%) with 39.70% saying they will increase and 17.32% expecting them to decline.
Confidence among renters was weaker week-over-week while homeowners’ confidence increased.
There was increased confidence in all regions except for Quebec and most income groups showed slight increases in their optimism compared to a week earlier.
