New house prices across the country rose by 0.1 per cent in June, a slightly smaller increase than in May, according to numbers released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.
Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, N.B., posted the largest gains, with prices of new homes up 1.3 per cent. Builders there said they increased their prices to make up for higher material and labour costs, as well as land development costs.
Prices fell in seven of the 21 metropolitan areas measured by Statistics Canada. Regina and Charlottetown saw the largest decreases, at 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.
New house prices rose 0.3 per cent in May.
Year over year, however, Regina recorded the largest increase, at 6.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, the annual rate of housing starts across the country slipped to 189,200 in July, a 1.6 per cent decline from June numbers, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Tuesday.
With files from The Canadian Press
