Southern Ontario slows nationwide gains for new home prices

New home prices were up just 0.2% in June following increases of 0.7% in May and 0.8% in April, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

The nationwide gain was moderated by southern Ontario which paused after recent gains, while Ottawa-Gatineau was one of the drivers of nationwide prices (0.9%) along with Vancouver (1.5%) with builders citing improved market conditions.

There was no change in new home prices in Toronto in June, along with other neighbouring cities, except St. Catharines-Niagara and Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo which both saw gains of 0.1%.

The slowdown in southern Ontario follows the introduction of the Fair Housing Plan in April which includes the 15% non-resident speculation tax.

Overall, prices were up in 8 CMAs, down in 5 and unchanged in 14.

On a 12-month basis, national new home prices were up 3.9%, led by an 8.5% rise in Toronto and gains for Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (+6.5%), London (+6.4%), Vancouver (+6.2%) and St. Catharines–Niagara (+6.0%).

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