By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--Canadian new house prices climbed in November, continuing a streak of month-over-month increases that started in May of 2020 and is partly driven by low-housing inventory.
The prices rose 0.8% in November from the previous month, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. From a year ago, new house prices advanced 11.7%.
The most recent data from the Canadian Real Estate Association said existing home sales rose at a record 25.3% annual rate in November. The association said low levels of housing inventory and relatively solid population growth, from immigration, are driving up the cost of buying a home. The association said it anticipates sales to remain historically strong in 2022 although at a slower pace because interest rates are bound to increase.
The data agency added that higher lumber prices are also expected to add further upward pressure on the cost of building, and selling, new homes.
Some of the biggest one-month increases were recorded in the southern part of Ontario, in urban centers such as London and the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge region, which are roughly within 100 miles of the Toronto market.
Canada's new-house price data were originally scheduled for release on Dec. 21. It was rescheduled for Wednesday due to what Statistics Canada said last month was an issue related to cybersecurity.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-05-22 0905ET
