Higher costs for labour and building materials prompted builders across the country to ask 0.4% more in February for new housing than they did in January, says Statistics Canada.

On a yearly basis they sought 4.9% more, down from 5.1% a month earlier, the agency said Tuesday.

Monthly increases occurred in 15 of 21 urban centres surveyed, one was down and five showed no change.

New-home prices rose in London, Ont., by 1.8%, the Sudbury-Thunder Bay area in Ontario by 1.3% and in Regina by one%.

Hamilton prices were up by 0.9%, Ottawa-Gatineau, 0.8%; Charlottetown, 0.7%; Montreal, 0.6%; St. John’s, Nfld., 0.5%; Toronto and Oshawa by 0.5%.

Saint John, N.B., Fredericton and Moncton saw 0.3% increases, St. Catharines-Niagara in Ontario was up 0.3%; Calgary, 0.3%; Quebec, 0.2%; Vancouver 0.2%. A slight increase of 0.1% was registered in Victoria.

Edmonton posted the only decline, 0.2%.

For the fifth month in a row, Victoria posted the largest 12-month increase for new homes, coming in at 10.1%. Quebec was next at 6.8%, St. Catharines-Niagara and London both at 6.1%.

In a separate release, Statistics Canada reported that investment in non-residential construction caught a chill in the first quarter this year, edging down slightly from a record high in the previous quarter.

Investment slipped 0.3% to $6.7 billion, which was still a record high for the first three months of any year. The decline comes after six months of growth.