According to Statistics Canada, new home prices for Canada were up 0.2 percent in June compared with May. Prices were up in 12 of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed, unchanged in 14 and down in one.
Windsor (+1.4 percent) recorded the largest monthly increase for new home prices in June. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, there were four single detached homes in the inventory of completed and unabsorbed dwelling units for the month of June. Builders in the region reported that a lack of new home supply combined with a rise in construction costs mostly contributed to the growth in the price of new homes in Windsor. The shortage of available homes was also reflected in the resale market in Windsor, as the overall MLS Home Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark price was 28.1 percent higher in June than compared with the same month in 2021, according to the Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS.
Charlottetown (+1.0 percent) recorded the second highest increase in new home prices in June. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, Prince Edward Island's MLS® HPI benchmark price for single-family homes increased by 4.8 percent to $367,200 month-over-month in June, rising for the fourth consecutive month, while it rose by 20.7 percent year-over-year. In Prince Edward Island, along with the rest of the Atlantic region, single-family home prices remain affordable compared with most of the country's regions, where the average national MLS HPI benchmark price for single-family homes was $891,600 in June. Prince Edward Island had a net increase of 1,389 people in the first quarter of 2022, with much of the increase coming from Ontario and international immigration. The relative affordability of housing may be a factor contributing to the continued rise in home prices for the area, attracting buyers from various parts of the country and immigrants.
Nationally, new home prices rose 7.9 percent year-over-year in June, the smallest increase since March 2021.
Calgary (+15.0 percent) reported the greatest year-over-year gain among the 27 CMAs surveyed, even with its rate of increase slowing since peaking in March 2022. Sales in this city have decreased at a faster pace than new listings, allowing for the inventory to slightly replenish, as supply availability increased on the market to reach 1.9 months of supply in June. This was up from the previous month, but nevertheless 20 percent lower than levels in 2021, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board.
Prices were also up in Winnipeg (+14.9 percent), Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (+13.2 percent) and London (+12.7 percent) on a year-over-year basis in June.