OTTAWA — Canadian housing prices rose in January, but the 0.5 per cent increase over the previous month was the smallest recorded since prices began rising nine months earlier.
Resale prices were up 7.5 per cent from January 2009, according to the Teranet-National Bank housing price index released Wednesday, the fourth month in a row of year-over-year increases following 10 months where prices decreased when measured against the previous year.
“For the first time in nine months none of the six metropolitan markets surveyed showed a monthly increase of as much as one per cent,” said Marc Pinsonneault, a senior economist with National Bank Financial Group.
Still, advances have been made, said Pinsonneault, noting “the index is now up nine per cent from its April 2009 bottom.”
Housing prices have bounced back significantly in markets such as Vancouver, where they’ve risen 11.7 per cent from their bottom in May, 2009, and Toronto, where they’re now 11 per cent higher than in April 2009.
The Teranet National Bank index is compiled by tracking prices of homes sold at least twice using data collected from public land registries in six metropolitan areas: Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax.
Housing price index (% change January from December / from January 2009):
National composite 0.5 / 7.5
Calgary 0.5 / 1.9
Halifax 0.6 / 4.6
Montreal 0.4 / 5.3
Ottawa 0.3 / 8.1
Toronto 0.7 / 9.4
Vancouver 0.9 / 8.9
Source: The Vancouver Sun