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New house prices rose in May at their slowest pace in almost six years, a further sign that Canada’s real estate market is cooling, particularly in Alberta and British Columbia.

reportonbusiness.com: Canada’s housing market continues to cool:

Prices rose 4.1 per cent in May from a year earlier, down from 5.2 per cent in April and the weakest since the 4 per cent registered in July, 2002, Statistics Canada said Friday.

On a monthly basis, prices remained unchanged between April and May.

Statscan said the May showing continued “a deceleration that started in September, 2006, due mainly to the softening market in Alberta and British Columbia.”

Saskatchewan continued to see the biggest increases. In Regina, for example, home prices rose 30.4 per cent, and in Saskatoon 30.2 per cent. Still, Statscan noted, Regina’s showing slipped from 34 per cent in April and Saskatoon’s from February’s record 58.3 per cent.

In Alberta and British Columbia, the impact was noticeable.

New home prices in both Calgary and Edmonton fell between April and May, though were still up 3.3 per cent in Edmonton on an annual basis. In Calgary, however, the annual change was just 0.6 per cent, Statscan said, a dramatic change from the record 60.6 per cent rise in August, 2006.

In Vancouver and Victoria, prices also fell on a monthly basis, although they were still up 2.7 per cent in Vancouver year-over-year. In Victoria, however, prices were flat from a year earlier.

Statscan noted that in Winnipeg, new home prices rose 16.1 per cent in May from a year earlier, the result “of higher material costs and a continuing healthy market.”

Indeed, the agency said, Winnipeg was the only market west of Ontario where increases “picked up speed” in the month.

Prices continued to surge, hitting record levels, in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. And in Montreal, prices were still up 5.7 per cent, a three-year high, also the result of higher material costs and a strong market.

Yet again, Statscan noted, Windsor, Ont., an automotive centre, continued to be the only city marking a price decline on an annual basis, with prices falling 0.2 per cent.

Windsor “has now experienced deflation in its new housing market for 22 of the last 26 months,” Statscan said.

Overall, the housing market has experienced a cooling, but nowhere near the meltdown, sparked by the subprime crisis, in the United States.

Earlier this week, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said housing starts in June slowed, with a 4.3 per cent dip in residential building activity from a month earlier.