New home prices in the Calgary region increased slightly in August, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal agency reported Wednesday that the New Housing Price Index in the Calgary census metropolitan area was up 0.2 per cent from July.

But on a year-over-year basis the NHPI dropped by 0.5 per cent in the Calgary CMA.

“New home prices have not changed much from last year and have been mainly supported by the price of land,” said Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

“The house component is down from 2010. With the modest level of new construction activity, there has been less pressure on input costs such as labour and materials.”

Nationally, the NHPI rose 0.1 per cent in August. It was also up 2.3 per cent on an annual basis.

Between July and August, Regina (1.2 per cent) posted the largest increase, followed by the aggregated metropolitan regions of Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay (0.9 per cent) as well as Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton (0.6 per cent).

In August, prices remained unchanged in six of the 21 metropolitan regions surveyed, said the federal agency.

It said the most significant monthly price declines were recorded in Vancouver (0.4 per cent) and Victoria (0.3 per cent).

The largest year-over-year price increases were in Toronto and Oshawa as well as in Regina with both 5.1 per cent.

Compared with August 2010, contractors’ selling prices were also higher in St. John’s and Winnipeg (4.1 per cent), followed by Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (3.4 per cent).

Among the 21 metropolitan regions surveyed, five posted 12-month price declines in August, led by Windsor (3.2 per cent) and Victoria (1.9 per cent), said Statistics Canada.

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