Langley Real Estate

OTTAWA — Housing prices rose for the eleventh straight month in May, advancing 0.3 per cent compared to the month before and in line with analyst expectations, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

The gains were led by Regina, where prices advanced 3.4 per cent, and Toronto and Oshawa, where prices rose 0.7 per cent.

Prices fell in Kitchener, down 0.8 per cent, Victoria, down 0.4 per cent, Windsor, down 0.2 per cent and London, off 0.1 per cent.

On an annual basis, the federal agency's New Housing Price Index is up 2.9 per cent.

Many expect housing sales and prices to cool in the months ahead, however.

Realtor Royal LePage forecast this week that after continuing to climb in the second quarter, prices — and sales — will fall in the coming months after sales were driven higher in the first half by looming interest rate hikes, the imposition of the HST in Ontario and British Columbia and tighter lending policies.

Data this week also showed existing home sales in Canada's two most expensive markets, Toronto and Vancouver, falling sharply in June, while building permits — a measure of future construction activity — fell more sharply than expected.