CALGARY - New housing prices across the country fell by three per cent in April compared with a year ago, primarily because of continuing declines in western Canadian centres.

In Calgary, Statistics Canada said new houses prices fell by 8.8 per cent from April 2008 to April 2009. Edmonton saw a year-over-year drop of 12.5 per cent while Saskatoon had an 11.9 per cent decline. In Vancouver, the drop was nine per cent.

The federal agency's New Housing Price Index, released today, also showed that contractors' selling prices decreased nationally by 0.6 per cent in April from March.

Between March and April, prices declined the most in Vancouver (1.2 per cent) followed by Edmonton (0.9 per cent) and Calgary (0.8 per cent).

"In Alberta, although some builders reported increased material costs as a result of new fire code regulations, these increases were negated by builders lowering prices or offering free upgrades in an increasingly competitive market," said Statistics Canada.

Among surveyed cities, the largest increase between April 2008 and April 2009 was registered in St. John's (17.0 per cent).