By Greg Quinn – April 4, 2016 -Bloomberg News

Via/ http://www.financialpost.com/

Canadians are looking past signs of damage from low energy prices and predicting the housing surge will continue.

According to weekly polling by Nanos Research, the share of respondents expecting higher real estate prices reached the most since December 2014 last week, or 38.7 per cent. That pushed the Bloomberg Nanos Consumer Confidence Index to 54.7 last week, the highest this year, from 54.5 previously.

“The main positive driver for the forward look on the economy was the view that the value of real estate would increase,” said Nik Nanos, chairman at Ottawa-based Nanos Research Group.

The average national home sale price exceeded $500,000 for the first time ever, with Vancouver and Toronto leading gains, Canada’s main realtor group reported on March 15. Policy makers have highlighted other positive forces that will lead the economy out of the slump caused by the collapse in crude oil prices. They include a lower currency, which should help exporters, and a federal budget last month that promises about $120 billion in deficit spending over the next six years to buttress the economy.

There’s some evidence things are turning around. Canada’s gross domestic product grew 0.6 per cent in January, the fastest since July 2013. And the country’s trade deficit was narrower than forecast in January as exports of motor vehicle and parts posted a 12-month gain of 39 per cent.

To read more, including some of the lingering risks, click here