New home prices fall for first time in decade

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Led by cooling markets in Alberta and British Columbia, national prices on new homes declined month over month in October for the first time in over a decade, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

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, K* C9 P* M7 \* N$ W* KThe average cost of a home in Canada fell 0.4% between September and October, the federal agency said. It was the first monthly decrease nationally since September, 1998.


+ R. w  A- l- H! `New home prices in Edmonton and Calgary continued to come off peaking demand last year in October.
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) l9 n# Z: A6 NPrices have fallen 7.7% year-over-year in Edmonton, marking the city's largest annual decline in more than 23 years. Calgary prices are down 1.6% from a year ago in the biggest retreat since November 1991, StatsCan said.
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Month to month, prices in Edmonton and Calgary fell by 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively.

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* Z. y) ]7 S+ O  O' MVancouver, where home prices have risen the fastest in recent years, saw a monthly drop of 1.1% in October as demand cooled rapidly. Year over year, prices were down 0.4%.
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: F0 |/ G; o0 Q+ |, F# hIn Victoria, contractors' selling prices decreased 1.1% year-over-year StatsCan said, down from an annual increase of 0.2% in September.


& E/ _- C. ?) a4 `" P1 Q0 |Upward price pressure remained torrid in some markets as new home prices in Regina grew again in October, rising to 22.8% more expensive than a year ago. In contrast, Saskatoon prices were a modest 3.6% higher than a year ago while prices tumbled 1.6% from September to October as "builders continued report difficult market condition."

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: E! g1 ?' G6 E4 _  t4 eCompared with last October, contractors' selling prices in Ottawa were 4.3% higher, while new homes in Toronto were 3% more expensive, StatsCan said.
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