- REAL-ESTATE SENTIMENT IS OFFSETTING WEAKENING ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
- SURVEY SHOWS 44% EXPECT PRICES TO RISE, HIGHEST SINCE LOCKDOWN
Canadian households are increasingly optimistic about housing, even as the country suffers through a second wave of coronavirus cases, polling suggests.
About 44% of respondents expect the value of real estate in their neighborhood will go up over the next six months, according to the latest weekly survey by Nanos Research for Bloomberg News. That’s the highest percentage since March 13, before full pandemic shutdowns began and one of the strongest readings for this question in the past seven years. The share of Canadians who expect home prices to drop slid to 27%, also the lowest since mid-March.
The residential real estate market has been a bright spot in Canada’s economic recovery from Covid-19. Last month, home prices and sales reached a record from pent-up demand combined with low interest rates and tight inventory. Although the market has defied expectations, economists predict the gains will peter out in line with other data that shows a slow down in activity as cases rise and restrictions get re-imposed.
“Can it continue this way? Absolutely not,” Benjamin Tal, Deputy Chief Economist at CIBC, said in a telephone interview. “As we enter winter, things will slow down economically and we will see it in the housing market. It doesn’t mean it will go down but it will stabilize and maybe soften a bit.”
Source: Bloomberg/Nanos Research
Hagan, S. (2020, September 28). Coronavirus in Canada: Optimism About Housing Market Climbs Even Amid 2nd Wave. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-28/optimism-about-canadian-housing-market-climbs-even-amid-2nd-wave
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