Calgary Amongst Top Contributors to NHPI Increase

Calgary was amongst the top contributors to a slight increase in Canada's New Housing Price Index (NHPI) in December, with prices in the city advancing 0.5 per cent month-to-month.

According to Statistics Canada, the combined metropolitan region of Toronto and Oshawa, as well as the region of Calgary, were the top contributors to a 0.2 per cent increase in the NHPI, with increased material and labour costs contributing to higher prices in Calgary. Year-over-year, Calgary's NHPI posted a 3.1 per cent gain in December, once again ranking the city as one of the better markets in the nation. The main contributor to the advance was again Toronto and Oshawa, where the year-over-year-increase in contractors' selling prices was 3.9 per cent.

The NHPI measures changes over time in the selling prices of new residential houses agreed upon between the contractor and the buyer at the time of the signing of the contract. It is designed to measure the changes in the selling prices of new houses where detailed specifications pertaining to each house remain the same between two consecutive periods. The prices collected from builders and included in the index are market selling prices less value added taxes, such as the Federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) or the Harmonized Sales Tax.