Contractors’ sales prices have decreased by 0,6 % in April of 2009, compared to the decrease of 0,5 % noted in March. The figures were provided by Statistics Canada.
Since 2008, a high without precedent, the price index of new residences has receded by 3,2 %. It is in Vancouver that prices have most gone down between March and April (- 1,2 %), followed by Edmonton (- 0,9 %) and Calgary (- 0,8 %). In Vancouver, contractors do not have the choice to reduce their prices if they want to increase their sales.
“In Alberta, although certain contractors have reported an increase of prices of materials because of new regulations to the code of fire prevention, these increases were attenuated by the fact that the contractors had to reduce their sales prices or offer free improvements in an increasingly competitive market”, specifies Statistics Canada.
In the major Canadian cities, the price index of the new residences has thus receded by 3,0 % from one year to another in April, mainly under the effect of the fall in prices in the Canadian West.