Canada's new housing price index was down 1.8 per cent in February from February 2008, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

"This was the second consecutive year-over-year decrease at the Canada level, and the largest decline since September 1996," when it fell two per cent, the agency said.

The index measures new house and land prices in 21 metropolitan areas. It is not a price itself, but a measure of how prices have changed over a month and a year. The index was set at 100 in 1997, and was 155.3 in February.

The February index includes a three per cent drop in house prices, and a 0.6 per cent rise in the cost of land.

The February index is down 0.7 per cent from January.

Some cities experienced big monthly drops between January and February: Edmonton (three per cent), Vancouver (2.9 per cent), Saskatoon (2.1 per cent) and Victoria (1.7 percent).

Quebec City led the monthly rises with a 2.6 per cent increase, as some builders "increased their prices significantly as a result of a shortage of available land in the city," the agency said.

Land values were also a factor in the 1.2 per cent rise in Charlottetown.

Year-over-year changes

The biggest annual index drops were in Edmonton (12.2 per cent), Saskatoon (8.7 per cent), Calgary (7.1 per cent), Vancouver (6.1 per cent) and Victoria (5.8 per cent).

The largest year-over-year increase was in St. John's (20.5 per cent), followed by Regina (14.7 per cent), Quebec City (eight per cent), Winnipeg (5.1 per cent) and Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton (4.2 per cent).

Toronto-Oshawa was up 0.8 per cent, while Montreal rose 3.1 per cent.