Housing price pressures ease in April: StatsCan

New home prices showed signs of cooling in April, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The national statistical agency reported that new home prices rose 0.3% in April, which is down from an average of 1.1% for the three previous months.

StatsCan said prices were up month over month in 10 of the 27 metropolitan areas surveyed. Prices were down in one area (Montreal) and flat everywhere else.

Regina saw the largest monthly gain (1.7%), followed by Calgary (1.6%) and Ottawa (1.5%).

On a year-over-year basis, new home prices were up 9.4% in April, which is the smallest rise in national prices since March 2021, StatsCan said.

Winnipeg led the way with a 21.9% increase. Calgary ranked second once again at 21.7%, and prices in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo area were up 19%.

Rising new home prices come amid record levels of residential construction activity in the first quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2021, StatsCan said.

“This rise in construction activity had impacts on construction costs, pushing up the prices of new homes,” it noted, pointing to lumber prices and labour shortages as the key drivers of construction costs.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.