New Housing Price Index, April 2019
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Released: 2019-06-13
April 2019
0.0%
(monthly change)
April 2019
-0.3% 
(monthly change)
April 2019
0.0%
(monthly change)
April 2019
0.0%
(monthly change)
April 2019
0.0%
(monthly change)
April 2019
0.1% 
(monthly change)
April 2019
0.0%
(monthly change)
April 2019
0.1%
(monthly change)
April 2019
-0.7%
(monthly change)
April 2019
-0.3%
(monthly change)
April 2019
-0.2%
(monthly change)
Nationally, new house prices in Canada remained unchanged in April for a third consecutive month.
Chart 1
New Housing Price Index
New Housing Price Index, monthly change
In April, builders in 19 of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed reported flat or lower prices.
The largest declines were in Regina (-0.8%), Calgary and Victoria (each down 0.6%), as well as in Saskatoon (-0.5%). Deteriorating market conditions were the primary reason for the decreases in all four CMAs, as reported by the builders surveyed. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, new residential listings were also down in Victoria (-4.2%), Calgary (-3.1%) and Regina (-1.8%) in April.
New home prices in Vancouver (-0.2%) and Toronto (-0.1%) were also down in April, with declines linked primarily to lower negotiated selling prices and market conditions.
Ottawa (+0.5%), Gatineau and London (each up 0.4%) reported some gains in April, tied to higher construction costs and market conditions. These CMAs continue to experience a skilled labour shortage, pushing up construction costs, which may be contributing to the higher price of new homes.
Chart 2
New house prices remain unchanged at the national level for a third consecutive month
New Housing Price Index, 12-month change
New house prices at the national level rose 0.1% year over year in April.
The largest 12 month gains were in Ottawa (+4.1%), London (+3.1%) and Montréal (+2.5%).
The increase in Ottawa coincided with a shortage of residential real estate listings. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, new residential listings were down 4.6% year over year in April. The lack of available resale homes may also have buyers turning to the new home market. In Ottawa, single-family housing starts were up 10.6% year over year in April, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Single-family homes include row, single and semi-detached houses.
New home prices were down 3.6% in Regina year over year, the largest percentage decline among the 12 CMAs reporting decreases in April. Canada's two most expensive housing markets, Vancouver (-0.6%) and Toronto (-0.3%), experienced smaller declines. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation the pace of new home construction has slowed in all three CMAs year over year, with single-family housing starts down in Regina (-35.8%), Toronto (-32.4%) and Vancouver (-15.4%) in April.
Note to readers
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 survey covers the following dwelling types: singles, semi-detached and townhouses or row homes. The current value of the structure is independently indexed and is presented as the house series. The survey also collects contractors' estimates of the current value (evaluated at market price) of the land. These estimates are independently indexed to provide the published series for land. The index is available at the Canada and provincial levels, and for 27 census metropolitan areas.
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 provincial harmonized sales tax.
The index is not subject to revision and is not seasonally adjusted.
Products
A video entitled "Producer Price Indexes" is available on the Statistics Canada Training Institute webpage. It provides an introduction to Statistics Canada's Producer Price Indexes: what they are, how they are made and what they are used for.
Statistics Canada has a new Housing Market Indicators Dashboard. This web application provides access to key housing market indicators for Canada, by province and by census metropolitan area. These indicators are automatically updated with new information from monthly releases, giving users access to the latest data.
A data table highlighting changes in new home prices in Canada and select census metropolitan areas is available as part of the Just the Facts series.
Next release
The New Housing Price Index for May will be released on July 11.
Products
The dashboard "Housing Market Indicators" is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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