Statistics Canada says its new housing price index rose 0.1 per cent in December, after a 0.3 per cent increase in November.

The agency says higher prices in Toronto, Oshawa and Montreal were the main contributors to the December increase.

It says good market conditions and higher land values pushed prices up by 0.4 per cent in Toronto and Oshawa, while a good market in Montreal produced a 0.3 per cent increase.

Prices were lower in Vancouver and Hamilton and were unchanged in 12 of the 21 metropolitan regions surveyed.

On a year over year basis, the index was up 2.5 per cent, the same increase as in the previous two months.

Toronto and Oshawa again recorded the highest year-over-year increases, with prices up 6.3 per cent.