The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) rose 0.2% in January following a 0.1% advance in December.
Toronto and Oshawa, as well as Montréal were the top contributors to the NHPI increase in January.
Between December and January, prices increased the most in Winnipeg (+0.7%), followed by Québec (+0.5%), Toronto and Oshawa, and Montréal (both up 0.4%).
In Winnipeg, prices rose as a result of builders introducing new list prices in January.
In Toronto and Oshawa, builders reported increased prices as a result of good market conditions.
In Québec and Montréal, the increases were mainly attributed to higher material and labour costs.
Price decreases were recorded in the Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton metropolitan regions aggregation, as well as in Hamilton (both down 0.2%) and Edmonton (-0.1%).
In Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, slower market conditions caused builders to reduce their prices in order to stimulate sales.
In Hamilton, as well as in Edmonton, builders reported lower negotiated selling prices in January.
Year over year, the NHPI was up 1.9% in January following a 2.1% increase in December.
The main contributors to the year-over-year increase of the NHPI in January were the metropolitan regions of Toronto and Oshawa, Montréal and Ottawa–Gatineau.
For the third month in a row, the largest year-over-year increase was recorded in St. John's (+6.2%).
Compared with January 2010, contractors' selling prices were also higher in Regina (+6.0%) and Winnipeg (+5.9%).
Among the 21 metropolitan regions surveyed, 5 registered 12-month declines in January: Windsor (-3.7%), Charlottetown (-1.9%), Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay (-1.1%), Victoria (-1.0%) and St. Catharines–Niagara (-0.8%).
Note: The New Housing Price Index measures changes over time in the selling prices of new residential houses agreed upon between the contractor and the buyer at the time of the signing of the contract. It is designed to measure the changes in the selling prices of new houses where detailed specifications pertaining to each house remain the same between two consecutive periods. The prices collected from builders and included in the index are market selling prices less value added taxes, such as the Federal Goods and Services Tax or the Harmonized Sales Tax.
This release presents data that are not seasonally adjusted and the indexes published are final.
The new housing price indexes for February will be released on April 12.