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New Housing Price Index

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August 2010  (Previous release)

The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) increased 0.1% in August following a 0.1% decrease in July.

The top contributors to the NHPI monthly increase in August were Toronto and Oshawa, Hamilton and Montréal.

 Evolution of the New Housing Price Index

Between July and August, prices increased the most in Hamilton (+0.9%), followed by Windsor and Winnipeg (both up 0.4%).

In Hamilton, the increase was due in part to builders moving to new areas with higher land development fees.

In Winnipeg, prices rose as a result of higher lumber and steel costs, while in Windsor, some builders reported higher operating costs.

In August, prices remained unchanged in 10 of 21 metropolitian areas.

Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, Ottawa–Gatineau, Calgary as well as Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay all recorded decreases of 0.1%.

In Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton as well as in Ottawa–Gatineau, builders recorded lower negotiated selling prices in August.

Builders in Calgary as well as in Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay reduced their prices to remain competitive.

Year over year, the NHPI was up 2.9% in August following an identical increase in July.

The main contributors to the year-over-year increase of the NHPI in August were Toronto and Oshawa, Vancouver and Montréal.

 Regina posts the highest year-over-year price increase

The largest year-over-year increase was recorded in Regina (+6.1%), followed by Winnipeg (+5.3%) and St. John's (+4.9%).

Compared with August 2009, contractors' selling prices were also higher in Ottawa–Gatineau (+4.5%), Vancouver (+4.4%) and Saskatoon (+3.8%).

Among the 21 metropolitan areas surveyed, 4 registered 12-month declines in August: Charlottetown (-2.2%), followed by Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay (-1.8%), Windsor (-1.3%) and Victoria (-0.4%).

Note: The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) 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 (GST) or the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).

The HST came into effect July 1, 2010, in Ontario and British Columbia. Prior to the introduction of the HST, the provincial sales tax on building materials in Ontario and in British Columbia was embedded in the contractor's selling prices of new houses. With the introduction of the HST in these two provinces, the provincial sales tax was replaced by the HST, a value added tax that is conceptually excluded from the index.

This release presents data that are not seasonally adjusted, and the indexes published are final.

Available on CANSIM: table 327-0005.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2310.

The second quarter 2010 issue of Capital Expenditure Price Statistics (62-007-X, free) will be available soon.

The New Housing Price Index for September will be released on November 9.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-888-951-4550; 613-951-4550; fax: 613-951-3117; ppd-info-dpp@statcan.gc.ca), Producer Prices Division.

Table 1

New housing price indexes
  2010 August 2009 July 2010 August 2010 July to August 2010 August 2009 to August 2010
  relative importance1 (1997=100) % change
Canada total 100.00 153.7 158.0 158.2 0.1 2.9
House only ... 161.4 168.4 168.6 0.1 4.5
Land only ... 137.7 137.4 137.4 0.0 -0.2
St. John's 1.20 183.1 192.1 192.1 0.0 4.9
Charlottetown 0.31 121.2 118.5 118.5 0.0 -2.2
Halifax 1.22 150.5 151.8 151.8 0.0 0.9
Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton2 0.88 120.5 123.4 123.3 -0.1 2.3
Québec 2.46 167.0 171.9 171.9 0.0 2.9
Montréal 10.11 165.3 170.1 170.4 0.2 3.1
Ottawa–Gatineau 4.71 169.7 177.6 177.4 -0.1 4.5
Toronto and Oshawa2 33.99 145.0 149.7 150.1 0.3 3.5
Hamilton 2.96 150.2 152.8 154.2 0.9 2.7
St. Catharines–Niagara 0.96 155.1 156.8 157.1 0.2 1.3
London 1.91 144.4 147.6 147.6 0.0 2.2
Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo 2.17 142.8 145.1 145.1 0.0 1.6
Windsor 0.65 103.8 102.1 102.5 0.4 -1.3
Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay2 0.85 112.7 110.8 110.7 -0.1 -1.8
Winnipeg 1.62 183.1 192.1 192.8 0.4 5.3
Regina 0.59 252.9 268.3 268.3 0.0 6.1
Saskatoon 0.81 211.7 219.8 219.8 0.0 3.8
Calgary 7.88 230.5 236.3 236.1 -0.1 2.4
Edmonton 8.29 207.6 208.7 208.7 0.0 0.5
Vancouver 14.39 114.5 119.4 119.5 0.1 4.4
Victoria 2.04 106.5 106.1 106.1 0.0 -0.4
not applicable
The relative importance is calculated using a price adjusted three-year average of the value of building completions for each metropolitan area.
In order to ensure data confidentiality, the following census metropolitan areas and census agglomeration are grouped together as follows: Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton; Toronto and Oshawa; and Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
Note(s):
View the census subdivisions that comprise the metropolitan areas online.