There were significant signs that consumers seemed to be settling in, even a few months ago, in anticipation of an end to the pandemic.
Often we can tell how people are feeling by their spending patterns. Buying small stuff while ignoring big ticket items sends one message while a willingness to step up and buy a house or a new car tells a fundamentally different story.
What we were beginning to see, as far back as March, was that consumers were starting to feel a little more confident. One indicator was their purchases of motor vehicles. They started to buy more – a lot more units, especially new ones instead of opting for used.
Now we have further data to support that finding. April’s figures have just come out and they quite solid with more than 4,000 transactions across the province. That was on par with March but, compared to April of last year – the first month of the pandemic – they were outstanding as more than twice as many units left dealer lots in 2021.
