Two new reports from Statistics Canada Thursday offered further evidence the Canadian economy is in good shape. Statscan said housing prices jumped 6% in July, while capacity utilization was up in the second quarter.

The federal agency said a favourable housing market and higher prices for building materials and labour continued to push up prices for new houses across the country in July. The price of new homes increased 6% in July vs the same month last year, according to the agency’s new housing price index, which is based on contractors’ selling prices.

“This was down slightly from the 6.2% annual increase in June, which was the biggest 12-month gain since February 1990 when prices advanced 7.1,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, industries operated at 84.6% of capacity in the second quarter, up from 83.4% in the first quarter as higher exports pushed industries to use more of their capacity to make products between April and June, even though domestic demand improved only slightly.

The second-quarter rate was just under the most recent peak of 85.4% for the fourth quarter of 1999, the agency added. Capacity utilization in manufacturing reached its highest level in more than four years, coming in at 86.6% in the second quarter vs 85% during the first three months of the year.

Meanwhile, Sherry Cooper, chief economist with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. points to a better-than-expected increase in housing starts as another sign of a strengthening Canadian economy. Starts jumped a 10.5% in August, bouncing back from the prior month’s 5.8% setback, as still-low mortgage rates continue to support the housing sector. Starts reached 241,500 annualized units last month, the second highest level this year and topping the 200,000 level for the 15th straight month.

“With mortgage rates on the rise, some modest cooling in the housing sector is likely,” she said in a report. “However, given that rates are still quite low, the job market is improving and consumer confidence is healthy, the sector should remain solid. In addition, building permits are still above the recent trend in starts, pointing to strong housing starts in the coming months.”