The price of new housing in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) rose again on an annual basis in May, after turning around in April following many months of declines, according to Statistics Canada data released July 9.
The new housing price index in the CMA rose 0.6 per cent year over year in May, leading to a BC-wide rise of 0.5 per cent.
New home prices in both Vancouver and the whole province stayed flat month over month compared with April 2015’s figures.
The local annual price rises fell short of those seen across the country, with nationwide new housing increasing its price index in May by 1.2 per cent year over year and 0.2 per cent month over month.
New house prices often do not reflect those seen in the resale market, as the price paid for a new home is only measured when the transaction is completed and registered with the Land Registry, rather than when the home is originally purchased off-plan. Because of long lead times on home construction, the new home prices registered today are those homes sold many months or even years ago – whereas MLS® home prices are much more up to date.
New home prices in Victoria continued their decline, down 1.5 per cent compared with last May and flat against April’s figures.
Of all the metropolitan areas surveyed, Hamilton, Ontario again recorded the largest annual increase in May, with prices up 3.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
