The Daily, Tuesday, August 12, 2003. New Housing Price Index

Archived Content

Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.

New Housing Price Index

The New Housing Price Index (1997=100) advanced 0.3% in June. On a 12-month basis, this index of contractors' selling prices rose 4.5%, up slightly from May's annual increase of 4.4%.

New Housing Price Indexes

(1997=100)

June 2003

June 2002 to June 2003

May to June 2003

% change

Canada

116.3

4.5

0.3

House only

122.5

5.8

0.3

Land only

104.9

1.4

0.1

St.John's

112.2

4.3

0.4

Halifax

119.7

4.6

0.0

Charlottetown

105.1

0.7

0.0

Saint John-Moncton-Fredericton

103.0

2.6

0.0

Québec

120.8

8.9

0.0

Montréal

125.7

6.6

0.3

Ottawa-Gatineau

137.6

2.8

0.4

Toronto

119.1

4.6

0.2

Hamilton

120.2

6.2

-0.1

St. Catharines-Niagara

120.7

5.0

0.9

Kitchener-Waterloo

119.1

1.5

0.0

London

115.1

4.9

0.0

Windsor

102.1

0.1

0.0

Sudbury-Thunder Bay

96.3

1.0

0.0

Winnipeg

114.2

3.9

0.6

Regina

124.2

6.7

0.9

Saskatoon

113.4

2.4

0.7

Calgary

130.7

5.0

0.6

Edmonton

123.1

4.6

0.1

Vancouver

96.5

3.5

0.1

Victoria

95.7

6.1

1.6

Monthly rises occurred in 12 of the 21 urban centres surveyed. Victoria led the way (+1.6%), with builders citing higher land values and a favourable housing market. Rising prices for building materials and labour pushed the index up in St. Catharines-Niagara (+0.9%) and Regina (+0.9%). A favourable housing market was noted in Saskatoon (+0.7%), while higher priced inputs, particularly building materials and land, contributed to the increase in Calgary (+0.6%). Higher general operating costs contributed to a 0.6% increase in Winnipeg.

Elsewhere, new house prices rose in St. John's (+0.4%), Ottawa-Gatineau (+0.4%), Montréal (+0.3%) and Toronto (+0.2%). The index was up slightly in Edmonton (+0.1%) and Vancouver (+0.1%).

Eight of the surveyed centres registered no change and the only decrease was registered in Hamilton (-0.1%).

On an annual basis, Québec experienced the largest 12-month increase for new homes (+8.9%). Regina was next with an increase of 6.7%, followed by Montréal (+6.6%). There were no annual decreases in June.

Available on CANSIM: table 327-0005.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2310.

The second quarter 2003 issue of Capital expenditure price statistics (62-007-XPB, $24/$79) will be available in October.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Perry Kirkpatrick (613-951-9606, fax: 613-951-1539; infounit@statcan.gc.ca), or Albert Near (613-951-3386; nearalb@statcan.gc.ca), Prices Division.