TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian home prices were unchanged in April, failing to rise for the eighth consecutive month, data showed on Tuesday.
The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed prices were flat last month from March.
It was just the second time in 21 years of data that the index showed no increase in April, said Marc Pinsonneault, a senior economist at National Bank of Canada. The index also fell in April 2009, during the global financial crisis, Pinsonneault said.
Prices fell in six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed, led by a 2% drop in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, the data showed.
Canada's once-hot housing market has softened since the start of last year, as tighter mortgage rules and five interest rate hikes from the Bank of Canada since July 2017 have curbed buyer spending power.
On an annual basis, the index rose 1.2%. It included a 6.2% price rise in the capital region of Ottawa-Gatineau and a 3.3% gain in Toronto, Canada's most populous city.
Four areas saw year-over year price declines, led by a 3.1% decrease in Calgary. Prices were down 2.8% in Vancouver.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Sandra Maler)
