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June 18, 2020NEW HOUSING PRICE INDEX, MAY 2020 MAY 2020
During the COVID-19 pandemic, comparisons of year-to-date averages and sums do not show Nova Scotia’s rapidly-changing economic situation. The DailyStats will focus on year-over-year comparisons, comparing one month with the same month in the prior year. Where possible the DailyStats will make comparisons of seasonally adjusted data from the pre-COVID-19 period (January and February 2020) with the period during which COVID-19 measures were in place from March 2020 onwards.
According to the new data released by Statistics Canada today, new house prices at the national level increased 0.1 per cent from the previous month in May 2020 following no change in April.
As the housing market entered the second full mouth of modified operations due to the impacts of COVID-19, builders and home buyers continued to adopt to new standards. While some COVID-19 restrictions eased for the construction industry, Statistics Canada noted that the strict safety protocols put in place continued to slow the pace of new home building. As a result, new home prices showed little or no change in 21 out of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed in May 2020.
In Nova Scotia, the price of new housing increased 0.5 per cent month-over-month in May 2020. This was the second highest monthly increase across all provinces just behind Prince Edward Island (+0.6%). New housing prices were down 0.1 per cent in Manitoba.
Year-over-Year (May 2020 vs. May 2019)
In May, Nova Scotia’s new housing prices were 1.9 per cent higher than they were in May 2019.
National new housing prices increased 1.1 per cent year over year in May 2020. Quebec saw the fastest growth in new housing prices at 6.1 per cent. New housing prices were lower in Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Census Metropolitan Areas
Year over year new house price growth among Census Metropolitan Areas was fastest in Ottawa (+10.9%) and Montreal (+8.1%) for the eleventh month in a row.
In May 2020, new housing prices declined in Regina (-4.0%) and Calgary (-1.5%) year over year for the fourth month in a row.
New housing prices were down in all CMAs in Saskatchewan and Alberta. New housing price index also declined in Vancouver (-0.9%), St. John's (-0.6%), and Oshawa (-0.1%).
Statistics Canada Note: With the release of the January 2017 NHPI data, a number of important changes have been introduced to increase the relevance of the index series. The index base period, for which the NHPI equals 100, is now December 2016. The NHPI basket has been updated with new weights for the 2017 series, its coverage has been expanded to include new CMAs.
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 18-10-0205-01 New housing price index, monthly
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