Why do some statistics show house prices dropping sharply, while others show prices up?

The problem with home price statistics is that there are an infinite number of ways to calculate and compare them.

New Statistics Canada numbers released yesterday, for example, give an idea of what's happening with newly-built homes (but not the resale of older homes). They show a 0.3-per-cent decrease in new-home prices in November, 2008, compared with the previous month, but a 0.7-per-cent increase compared with November of 2007.

That's only the national average, however. In different markets there are wildly different numbers. In St. John's, prices were up year over year by more than 25 per cent, while in Edmonton they were down almost 8 per cent.


Is Statistics Canada the only group that compiles house price data?

No, and that's another issue. Various organizations such as the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and real estate brokerage Royal LePage also collect and publish regular sales numbers, and these don't always agree.

Royal LePage often categorizes houses into different groups, such as detached bungalows or detached two-storey homes, so that adds another whole set of permutations. At the moment it is projecting a 3-per-cent drop in prices (nationally, on average) for 2009.