New home prices rose in Canada in July

New home prices in Canada rose 0.2 percent in July after an identical rise in June, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. The highest month to month gains in July were posted by St. John's, New Brunswick, where new home prices rose 0.7 percent largely due to higher development costs, StatsCan said. Calgary posted the largest annual price increase at 5.8 percent. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, prices rose 5.3 percent over 12 months. Price gains in the Toronto-Oshawa metropolitan region of Ontario and Calgary, Alberta, also pushed the national figure higher, StatsCan said. Higher prices for labor and materials and a shortage of developed land contributed to push Calgary's index higher. However, lower land prices contributed to a 0.4 percent decline in new home prices in Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. Catharine-Niagara, Ontario, StatsCan said.