MNI BRIEF: Falling Canada New Home Prices Hint At Cooling CPI

Canadian new home prices fell a seventh consecutive month in October to leave the year-over-year decrease at 1.8%, a sign broader shelter costs that have elevated core inflation measures tracked by the central bank are poised to keep fading. 

Statistics Canada's index of prices for new dwellings fell to 122.2 in October from 122.7 in September according to a report Friday. There has been only one monthly increase this year, back in February. Shelter costs in the agency's main CPI report are a key reason the Bank of Canada's core indexes are stuck around 3% even with headline inflation around 2%. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: True Inflation Trend Hard To Pin Down- StatsCan)