Canada Housing Prices Up 0.8%

Ottawa, Ontario, June 11, 2007--New housing prices jumped 0.8 percent in April from March, the biggest monthly gain since August 2006, Statistics Canada said on Monday.

Housing costs rose 8.9 percent compared with April 2006, easing slightly from 9.3 percent in March.

Edmonton, located in the oil-rich province of Alberta, led the gains with a 4.4 percent spike, followed by Regina, Saskatoon and Calgary -- all western centers.

"Price advances in these regions were mostly attributable to materials and labour," Statscan said in a statement.

The Bank of Canada, which has signaled it may raise interest rates soon to tame inflation, said in April it expected pressure on inflation from housing prices to continue to decline.