Vancouver Island Real Estate Board

British Columbia Consumer Confidence

According to the Conference Board of Canada, consumer confidence in British Columbia moved higher in March 2024, its fourth consecutive monthly increase.

Concerning job prospects over the next six months, the number of respondents expecting deterioration in conditions moved sharply lower. The gap between respondents expressing pessimism over future employment conditions and those expressing optimism continued to close further in March. The vast majority of respondents still except job prospects to remain the same.

Regarding expectations for their household budget over the next six months, there was a increase compared to last month in the number of respondents who expected an improvement and a decrease in those who expected conditions to get worse. Most respondents expected their household budget to remain the same.

Sentiment about making major purchases, like a home or a car, remains at subdued levels. The number of respondents who thought it was a bad time to make a major purchase moved down in March while the number of those expressing uncertainty or who thought it was a good time moved up.

Note: Based on 3-month moving averages.


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