New Housing Price Index, July 2013
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Released: 2013-09-12
The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) rose 0.2% in July, following an identical increase the previous month.
Chart 1
New Housing Price Index
The combined metropolitan region of Toronto and Oshawa as well as the region of Calgary were the top contributors to the increase. Builders reported that market conditions were the primary reason for higher prices in Toronto and Oshawa, while increased material and labour costs as well as a shortage of developed land contributed to higher prices in Calgary. Calgary has been a top contributor to advances in new housing prices over the past eight months.
The largest monthly price advance in July occurred in St John's (+0.7%), where builders cited an increase in land development costs as the primary reason for higher prices. Prices in the region had been relatively flat over the past two years, despite a couple of modest monthly advances.
Prices rose 0.4% in Halifax and in St. Catharines–Niagara as a result of higher material and labour costs in each region.
Prices decreased 0.3% in the combined region of Sudbury and Thunder Bay as builders reported lower land prices. This was the first decrease in this region in nine months.
Lower negotiated selling prices in July resulted in a 0.2% decrease in the regions of Ottawa–Gatineau and Saskatoon. This was the first decrease in Saskatoon since March 2012.
Prices were unchanged in 5 of the 21 metropolitan areas surveyed.
Chart 2
Calgary posts the highest year-over-year price increase
The NHPI rose 1.9% in the 12 months to July, following two months of identical increases (+1.8%).
The two main contributors to the annual advance were the combined metropolitan region of Toronto and Oshawa (+2.6%) as well as Calgary, where the year-over-year increase in contractors' selling prices was 5.8%. This was the largest price movement in Calgary since December 2007.
Year-over-year prices for new homes were up 5.3% in the metropolitan region of Winnipeg, following an identical increase in June.
Other significant year-over-year increases occurred in St. Catharines–Niagara (+3.4%) and Halifax (+2.9%), as well as in Hamilton and Regina (both up 2.5%).
Among the 21 metropolitan areas surveyed, only Victoria (-1.2%) and Vancouver (-1.0%) posted 12-month price declines in July.
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 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.
The indexes are not subject to revision and are not seasonally adjusted.
The first quarter 2013 issue of Capital Expenditure Price Statistics, Vol. 29, no. 1 (Catalogue number62-007-X), is available from the Browse by key resource module of our website under Publications. The second quarter 2013 issue is scheduled for release in October. This will be the last edition of the publication. In the future, all the information currently in the publication will be available free of charge on our website.
The New Housing Price Index for August will be released on October 10.
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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@canada.ca).
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