Canadian home price gains accelerate in April from prior month -Teranet

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian home prices accelerated sharply in April from March, as indexes rose in all 11 major markets for the second consecutive month, data showed on Wednesday.

The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which tracks repeat sales of single-family homes, rose 2.4% in April from March. That was a marked increase from the gain of 1.5% in the previous month.

On an annual basis, the Teranet index was up 11.9% from a year earlier, the strongest 12-month gain since August 2017. Halifax, Nova Scotia, led the year-over-year gains, at 26.8%, followed by Hamilton, Ontario, at 22.9% and the national capital region of Ottawa-Gatineau at 19.5%.

Housing price gains in smaller cities outside Toronto and its immediate suburbs again outpaced the major urban centers, with cities like Barrie, Guelph and Kitchener posting annual gains in the range of 23.8% to 27.9%.

On a month-over-month basis, prices rose 5.4% in Halifax and 3.0% in Toronto, with Victoria, British Columbia, Ottawa-Gatineau and Hamilton all up 2.8%. Gains in the other major markets ranged from 0.4% to 2.0%.

By contrast, data earlier this week from Canada's realtors showed prices and sales dropped in April compared with March, as some of the frenzy of recent months began to subside. Housing starts also fell in April.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney)

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