Speculation about when housing prices will stop rising and perhaps turn downward could be growing louder in the next few months, following figures released Thursday by Statistics Canada.
The agency says its new housing price index gained 0.7% in May, its largest monthly increase since July 2007. StatsCan also says the rise was mainly driven by higher new housing prices in the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa, Ont., and in Vancouver.
The index for the combined region of Toronto-Oshawa was up 1.9% in May, the biggest contributor to the overall increase.
Statistics Canada says builders cited market conditions and the higher cost of land as the reasons for the gain, which was the biggest in that area in 27 years.
New housing prices rose 1.1% in both Vancouver and Victoria, but fell in Regina and Charlottetown.
For the 12-month period ended in May, the index was up 2.7%, the largest increase since September 2010.
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