Canada New House Prices Rise 0.7% in May

Canadian new house prices surged for a second straight month in May, driven by gains in the Toronto and Vancouver markets.

Vancouver's new-house prices rose at their fastest pace in a decade. Meanwhile, other markets surrounding Toronto also recorded healthy gains, in another sign buyers who can't afford homes in Canada's biggest city are purchasing real estate elsewhere in the province of Ontario -- and, in turn, driving up costs in those communities.

Canada's new housing price index increased 0.7% in May on a month-over-month basis, Statistics Canada said Thursday. Market expectations were for a smaller 0.3% gain, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada.

May's gain follows the previous month's 0.8% increase in the new-house price index.

On a 12-month basis, Canadian new house prices increased 3.8% in May.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2017 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)