Another Surge for New Housing Prices in Vancouver: StatCan

The new housing price index in Metro Vancouver continued to rise in January, again at a quicker pace of growth compared with the previous month, according to Statistics Canada data released March 10.

The price of a new home in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) increased 3.1 per cent year over year in January – pushing upwards to become the second-highest annual rate of growth in the country, after Toronto–Oshawa CMA.

Month over month, new home prices in Vancouver 0.4 per cent compared with December’s figures, making it the eighth straight month for rising monthly prices in the CMA. Vancouver was the country’s biggest contributor to Canada’s overall monthly new home price rise of 0.1 per cent in January.

Across BC, new housing prices rose 2.9 per cent year over year – once more the country's second-biggest rise, after Ontario – and 0.4 per cent month over month.

Victoria CMA's new home prices halted their slide in January, staying flat compared with the same month last year and also flat compared with December 2015.

Increases in new home 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® resale home prices are much more up to date.

To see Statistics Canada's full report and interactive tables, click here.