The Globe and Mail

Prices for new homes fell 0.5 per cent in March from a month earlier, with the biggest dips in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria, Statistics Canada says. The decline was the sixth month-over-month drop in a row, and was exactly as analysts had been projecting, and comes on the heels of a 0.7-per-cent drop in February. New housing prices are now 2.4 per cent lower than a year ago, Statscan said. It's the third month in a row for year-over-year declines, and means housing prices in most cities are now lower than they were at this time last year. The monthly price declines in Alberta were mainly linked to lower material and labour costs, as well as lower lot prices from developers. New homes in Calgary and Edmonton were 1.2 per cent lower in March than February. But in Vancouver, where new homes fell 1.1 per cent from February, and in Victoria, where prices were 0.9 per cent lower, competition and slow market conditions were the main causes, Statscan said.