Financial Update

· TSX +115.61pts as a bargain-hunting rally took hold in hard-hit resource shares.
· Dow +164.79pts
· Dollar -.59c to $92.89US.
· Oil -$1.71 to $100.87US per barrel
· Gold -$16.60to $741.30US per ounce marking its longest streak of losing sessions in eight years.

New home prices rise — but not by much

Jamie Sturgeon, Financial Post

Price increases on new homes eased for the sixth month in a row in July, increasing by a meagre 0.1% as the national market continues to soften, Statistics Canada reported on Thursday.

Contractors' selling prices were up 2.7% from July of last year but below the year-over-year rise of 3.5% seen between 2007 and 2006. The tapering off in the growth of home prices continues a two-year trend dating to September 2006, the federal agency said.

Slowing demand in Western Canada is leading the country-wide slowdown StatsCan said. The latest evidence came from Edmonton, where prices dipped by 5.3% on an annual basis in July - the sharpest drop in 23 years. In Calgary, prices declined 0.3% annualized - a 12-year low.

"Markets in these cities continue to adjust after experiencing record price increases in the last two and a half years," Statscan said.

Yet further east in booming Saskatchewan, prices grew by a sizable 29.6% in Regina, while Saskatoon saw an annual increase of 13.1%, as a result of higher material and labour costs.
In contrast, Vancouver saw prices tick up a modest 1.6% in July. Canada's largest city, Toronto, saw an increase of 3.7% while Montreal recorded a rise of 5.7%, StatsCan said.

"This is yet further evidence that the housing market in Canada continues to cool," said Charmaine Buskas, economic strategist with TD Securities in a research note