New Housing Price Index, January 2020
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Released: 2020-02-20
January 2020
0.0%
(monthly change)
January 2020
0.0%
(monthly change)
January 2020
0.0%
(monthly change)
January 2020
0.4% 
(monthly change)
January 2020
0.0%
(monthly change)
January 2020
0.2%
(monthly change)
January 2020
-0.1% 
(monthly change)
January 2020
0.2%
(monthly change)
January 2020
-0.7%
(monthly change)
January 2020
0.0%
(monthly change)
January 2020
-0.2%
(monthly change)
New house prices were unchanged in January, following a 0.2% rise in December.
Chart 1
New Housing Price Index
New Housing Price Index, monthly change
In January, prices for new houses increased the most in Ottawa (+1.4%). Builders associated the gain with favourable market conditions and higher construction costs. The persistent housing supply shortage continued to drive up prices in the region. The Ottawa Real Estate Board reported that the number of new listings was 34.5% lower than the 10-year average for the month of January.
New house prices were up in Greater Sudbury (+1.1%) and Kelowna (+0.6%) because of higher construction costs.
In contrast, unfavourable market conditions drove down prices in Regina (-1.2%) and Saskatoon (-0.5%).
New home buyers in Toronto (-0.4%) and Vancouver (-0.2%) saw prices fall in January.
Chart 2
New housing prices are unchanged at the national level
New Housing Price Index, 12-month change
In January, new house prices at the national level rose 0.2%, year over year.
For the seventh consecutive month, the largest year-over-year price increases occurred in Ottawa (+8.4%) and Montréal (+6.8%).
New home buyers continued to see prices fall in Regina (-3.7%). New house prices have been declining year over year in this census metropolitan area since February 2018.
Note to readers
The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) measures changes over time in the selling prices of new residential houses. The prices are those agreed upon by the contractor and the buyer at the time of the signing of the contract. The detailed specifications pertaining to each new 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 provincial harmonized sales tax.
The survey covers the following dwelling types: singles, semi-detached and townhouses or row homes. The index is available at the Canada and provincial levels, and for 27 census metropolitan areas.
The index is not subject to revision and is not seasonally adjusted.
In addition to this monthly release, the NHPI has also been integrated into the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI). The RPPI is a quarterly series that measures changes over time in the prices of residential properties for Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria. An aggregate for these six census metropolitan areas is also available. The RPPI provides a price index for all components of the housing real estate market—new and resale—and a breakdown between houses and condominium apartments.
Products
Statistics Canada has an interactive NHPI dashboard, which allows users to visualize statistics on new housing prices.
Statistics Canada has a Housing Market Indicators Dashboard, which provides access to key housing market indicators for Canada, by province and by census metropolitan area.
For more information on the topic of housing, visit the Housing Statistics Portal.
The video "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 compiled and what they are used for.
Statistics Canada has launched the Producer Price Indexes Portal as part of a suite of portals for prices and price indexes. This webpage provides users with a single point of access to a wide variety of statistics and measures related to producer prices.
Next release
The New Housing Price Index for February will be released on March 19.
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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