Canadian new-house prices slowed in March

OTTAWA, May 12 (UPI) -- The growth in prices of new houses in Canada slowed for the second straight month in March, up just 0.2 percent from February, Statistics Canada said Monday.

There were some significant regional deviations from the national average, however, including Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where prices rose at the fastest pace, the agency said. The city experienced a year-over-year price increase of 46.2 percent in March, down from the record-setting pace of 58.3 percent in February.

In the border city of Windsor, Ontario, grappling with automotive manufacturing losses, prices fell 0.6 percent from March 2007, which StatsCan said was a trend now 18 months old.

Homebuyers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, saw prices rise 12.8 percent, up from the year-over-year increase of 11.4 percent in February. StatsCan attributed that to a strengthening economy, coupled with increased material and labor costs.

In Toronto, the country's largest city, contractors' selling prices were 4.5 percent higher, compared with March 2007, the agency said.