New home prices rise in Canada

New home prices in Canada rose 0.1 percent December to January and have risen 2.2 percent over 12 months, Statistics Canada said Thursday. Toronto and Oshawa, both in Ontario, and the region of Calgary pushed the index higher, the data agency said. Market conditions contributed to higher prices in Toronto and Oshawa, while increased costs for building materials and labor added to prices in Calgary, builders reported. Charlottetown on the south shore of Prince Edward Island saw the largest monthly price increase, up 1 percent. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, new home prices rose 0.9 percent. Month-to-month prices dropped 0.2 percent in Ottawa-Gatineau, that region's first decline since May 2011. The agency's new home price index for January came in at 109.1. It is based on the average index reading for 2007, which was assigned a value of 100.