Statistics Canada reported on Thursday the New Housing Price Index (NHPI) was unchanged m-o-m in February, following a 0.1 percent drop in January.

Economists had forecast the NHPI to be flat m-o-m in February.

According to the report, builders in 9 of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed reported gains in prices for homes they sold in March. London (+0.6 percent m-o-m) and Windsor (+0.6 percent m-o-m) recorded the largest increases, primarily due to higher construction costs.

At the same time, four of Canada's largest new housing markets saw slowing demand, as builders reported flat prices in Toronto and Calgary, and declining prices in Vancouver (-0.3 percent m-o-m) and Edmonton (-0.1 percent m-o-m) in February, the report said.

In y-o-y terms, NHPI edged up 0.1 percent in February, after dropping 0.1 percent in the previous month.