Canada's resale market has out-priced new housing over the past decade.
Between 2000 and the first half of 2010 the average cost of a new home increased by about 50 per cent while the average price of a resale home more than doubled, according to a report released Tuesday by Scotiabank.
The bank attributes the robust resale numbers to a multitude of factors including the tight supply of resale homes, low interest rates and mortgage market innovation.
Scotiabank also reports that increased household wealth has led to more renovations, adding additional value to resale homes.
"The typical Canadian resale home likely contains more updated and sought-after features which would account for some of the rise in average selling prices," the release said.
Residential renovation expenditures increased at an over seven per cent average annual rate between 2000 and 2009. Between 1990 and 1999, they declined by an average of one per cent annually.