Province
New housing costs continue to climb in Greater Vancouver but are relatively modest compared to other Canadian cities, the latest numbers from Statistic Canada released yesterday show.
In July the cost of a new Vancouver house pushed up by 0.5 per cent and so far this year costs have risen by 5.4 per cent.
While significant, it is a drop in the bucket compared with Calgary, where costs shot up an astonishing 4.6 per cent in July.
Cowtown was followed by St. John’s, Nfld., with a 2.9-per-cent monthly rise in the cost of new homes, Edmonton at 1.9 per cent, Hamilton, 1.6 per cent, Regina, 1.2 per cent, and Saskatoon, with a one-per-cent increase.
So far this year Calgary costs have jumped by 56 per cent, followed by Edmonton at nearly 30 per cent and Winnipeg at 9.7 per cent.
Overall, the cost of new housing across Canada so far this year has climbed 10.8 per cent.
Kitchener and Victoria posted decreases of minus 0.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively, due to competitive pricing.
StatsCan says rising costs for construction materials and labour rates, combined with strong market conditions are responsible for the increases.
© The Vancouver Province 2006
