According to Statistics Canada, nationally, new home prices increased 0.8 percent in November—continuing the string of monthly increases since May 2020. Prices were up in 16 of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed, unchanged in 9, and down in 2.
The largest price increases for new homes were in London (+2.8 percent), Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (+1.9 percent) and Toronto (+1.4 percent). In all three regions, a continuing high level of sales activity, record low levels of inventories in the resale sector, combined with higher construction costs in the new build sector, contributed to the rise of home prices in both sectors.
Following an 11.9 percent increase in October, the price of softwood lumber rose 5.3 percent in November as reported by the Industrial Product Price Index. With reduced output at Canadian lumber mills and labor shortages in the American mills, lumber prices are expected to continue to rise in the coming months, adding further pressure on the costs of building new homes.
As a result of historic rainfall and flooding in British Columbia, builders in Kelowna and in some parts of Vancouver were not required to report data. However, the immediate impact to the New Housing Price Indexes' response rates for November in these regions was minimal.
Damage incurred to major transportation routes in the Southwestern and interior regions of the province caused bottlenecks in the port of Vancouver. As they continue to clear the backlog of vessels unloading cargo, disruptions occurred in the supply chains of many commodities, including building materials.
Nationally, new home prices rose 11.7 percent year-over-year in November. New home prices were up in all 27 markets surveyed on a year-over-year basis, with the largest gains once again observed in Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (+29.0 percent), Windsor (+22.8 percent) and Ottawa (+22.4 percent).