Vancouver suffers Canada’s biggest May-June decline as builders get creative with marketing
Province
New home prices in Vancouver continue to slide, posting the largest drop in Canada between May and June, Statistics Canada says.
The price of new houses in Vancouver fell 0.9 per cent, followed by a 0.8-per-cent decline in Edmonton and a 0.5-per-cent drop in Victoria. “In Vancouver, some builders lowered their prices to stimulate sales and sell off their houses in inventory, while others offered free upgrades and cash incentives,” StatsCan said.
“A small number of builders did increase their prices on some popular models that were selling well.”
The main reason for Edmonton‘s monthly decline was lower negotiated prices between builders and homebuyers, StatsCan said.
Vancouver prices lost 9.1 per cent between june 2009 and a year earlier — the third-steepest annual decline after Edmonton‘s 11.7-per-cent drop and Saskatoon‘s 10.4-per-cent fall, the federal agency said.
The declines in the West dragged down the national average price. Across the country, new home prices in Canada fell for the ninth-straight month in June despite predictions the slide would finally come to an end.
National prices declined by 0.2 per cent in June, after a 0.1-per-cent decline in May. Economists had forecast prices would remain flat for the month.
“On balance, when combined with the disappointing housing starts report released yesterday, this report provided further confirmation on the dichotomy between the new and existing homes markets in Canada,” said TD Securities economics strategist Millan Mulraine, referring to the fall in July housing starts reported Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
“Indeed, while there is evidence that the existing home market may have stabilized, and is beginning to benefit from increased activity, the same cannot be said for the new home market.”
The largest monthly gains were recorded in Saskatoon at 0.5 per cent, followed by 0.4-per-cent increases in both Winnipeg and St. John’s, NL.
Year over year, new home prices were down 3.3 per cent compared with June 2008, the sharpest pace of decline since the early 1990s, Mulraine said.
The largest yearly gains were seen in St. John’s at 10.3 per cent, due to the “continued strength of the local economy.”
Yearly gains were also recorded in Saint John, N.B., Moncton, N.B., Fredericton, Regina and Winnipeg.
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