Statistics
Canada announced on Monday the New Housing Price Index (NHPI) was unchanged m-o-m in March, following a 0.1
per cent m-o-m gain in the previous month.
Economists had expected
the NHPI to edge up 0.1 per
cent m-o-m in March.
According to
the report, 12 out of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed posted
flat m-o-m performance in new home prices last month, while 9 CMAs recorded advances,
and the remaining 6 registered declines.
Ottawa (-0.9
per cent m-o-m), London (-0.3 per cent m-o-m) and Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo
(-0.3 per cent m-o-m) logged the largest declines in new home prices last
month, with builders linking the decreases to weak market conditions.
Meanwhile, Saint John, Fredericton, and Moncton (+0.7 per cent m-o-m), Victoria (+0.5 per cent m-o-m) and Calgary (+0.5 per cent m-o-m) registered the
biggest increases in new home prices in March.
In y-o-y terms, the NHPI dropped 0.4 per cent in
March, the same pace as in the previous month. This represented the 12th straight annual
decrease in the NHPI.