Canadian housing prices had little movement from July to August, showing stable housing prices, according to a Statistics Canada report released yesterday.
In Ottawa-Gatineau, there was no change in the price of new homes (0.0 per cent). While the biggest increases were in St. John’s (up 1.1 per cent) and Quebec (up 0.9 per cent), followed by Regina (up 0.8 per cent), decreases were seen in Hamilton (down 0.5 per cent), Windsor (0.4 per cent) and Edmonton (0.3 per cent). In Hamilton, some builders lowered prices to encourage sales while others offered bonus upgrades.
“Ottawa hasn’t had that many changes because the market has been stable in Ottawa these last few months,” said Statistics Canada analyst Annie De Champlain. Ottawa is in line with most Ontario cities, she said.
Builders surveyed told Statistics Canada that prices can change if the cost of building materials and labour go up, or if the price of land changes, said De Champlain.
In Quebec, for example, prices continued to increase as builders reported higher material and labour costs. Builders moving to new phases of development also raised their prices due to the scarcity of available lots.
