Canadian home prices edge higher in September, led by Montreal

[October 18, 2019]   TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian home prices edged higher in September, paced by increases in Montreal, the province of Quebec's most populous city, and the capital region of Ottawa-Gatineau, data showed on Friday.

 Condo buildings line both sides of Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed that prices rose 0.1% last month from August.

The gain was below the 21-year average of 0.2% for September but was the second straight month that the index was higher after correcting for seasonal pressure, said Marc Pinsonneault, a senior economist at National Bank of Canada.

The Bank of Canada said last month that activity in Canada's housing market has recovered more quickly than expected, helped by lower mortgage rates.

The Montreal market rose 1%, while the index for Ottawa-Gatineau was up 0.8%. In contrast, Vancouver's index fell 0.5%, the 14th straight month it was down, according to Pinsonneault.

Compared to the same month one year ago, the composite index gained 0.7%. That was much less than the rate of inflation but was the second straight month that the year-over-year increase accelerated, Pinsonneault said.

For Toronto, Canada's most populous city, the year-over-year increase was 4%.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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