According to Statistics Canada, the national index increased 0.1 percent month over month in May, its first increase since August 2022. Prices were up in 6 of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed in May 2023, down in 8 and unchanged in the remaining 13 CMAs.
In May, new home prices grew the most month over month in the Québec (+0.9 percent), Calgary (+0.8 percent) and Kelowna (+0.6 percent) CMAs, with builders noting increased construction costs as the reason for the price growth. This was the second consecutive month that Québec recorded the largest increase in prices among the CMAs surveyed, while both Calgary and Kelowna observed their largest month-over-month increases since May 2022.
The largest month-over-month decreases in May 2023 were reported in Sudbury (-1.2 percent) and Sherbrooke (-0.7 percent), with builders noting weak market conditions as the reason for the decline.
Nationally, new home prices were down 0.6 percent year over year in May, compared with the 8.4 percent increase recorded in the same month a year earlier. New home prices have declined since May 2022, as high interest rates impacted activity in the housing market. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reporting a 64.1 percent year-over-year increase in unabsorbed inventory (houses built but not sold) in May 2023.
Among the CMAs surveyed, Victoria (-2.7 percent) recorded the largest year-over-year decline in new home prices in May, followed by St. Catharines–Niagara (-2.4 percent) and Edmonton (-2.3 percent). In total, 19 CMAs recorded a year-over-year decrease in new home prices, up from the 14 recorded a month earlier.
The largest year-over-year increases in May 2023 were reported in the Québec (+4.1 percent), Charlottetown (+1.1 percent) and St. John's (+1.1 percent) CMAs.