Statistics
Canada announced on Tuesday the New Housing Price Index (NHPI) were flat m-o-m in December 2023, following
a 0.2 per cent fall m-o-m in the previous month.
Economists had forecast
the NHPI to remain unchanged m-o-m in December.
According to
the report, 14 out of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed recorded
flat m-o-m performance in new home prices last month, while 7 CMAs registered declines,
and the remaining 6 logged increases.
Halifax (-1.2 per
cent m-o-m) and Regina (-0.9 per cent m-o-m) saw the steepest decreases in new
home prices last month, with builders citing weak market conditions as the
reason behind the declines. Meanwhile, Calgary (+0.4 per cent m-o-m), Saskatoon
(+0.2 per cent m-o-m), and Sherbrooke (+0.2 per cent m-o-m) witnessed the strongest increases
in new home prices in December, with builders linking gains to construction
cost.
In y-o-y terms, the NHPI dropped 0.9 per cent in
December, the same pace as in the previous month. This marked the 9th straight annual decrease in the NHPI.