New home prices continue to climb.
February 12, 2004 - The selling price of a newly built home continued to tick upward in Ottawa-Gatineau and across the country in December thanks to the usual suspects—higher labour and materials costs.
Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday that its New Housing Price Index for the country climbed to 119.5 in December. That was an increase of 0.3 per cent from November and five per cent from the year before. However, the monthly increase was much smaller than the 0.7-per-cent advance recorded between October and November.
The index uses a baseline of 100 established in 1997 and tracks the selling prices charged by homebuilders in 21 major urban centres.
In Ottawa-Gatineau, the index rose to 141.2, up by a modest 0.1 per cent from November and by 3.3 per cent from the year before.
The capital region gave up the distinction of being the most inflationary market for new home prices early last year. However, at 141.2, it still boasts the largest gain since the index's baseline year of 1997.
On a monthly basis, prices were up in 13 of the 21 cities surveyed. The biggest monthly gains in December were in Regina, up 0.7 per cent to 128.5, Victoria, up 0.5 per cent to 100.9, and St. John's, up 0.4 per cent to 114.6.
Year-over-year, the biggest gains were see in Victoria, up by 10.2 per cent, Quebec, up 8.8 per cent to 126.2, and St. Catharines-Niagara, up 6.5 per cent to 124.1. All 21 cities reported increases year over year, with the exception of Windsor. That city's index held steady on the month and the year at 102.1.
© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Business Journal