Teranet and National Bank upgrade the Canadian House Price Index

MONTREAL, May 8, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - National Bank and Teranet are pleased to announce that the Teranet - National Bank House Price Index™ (HPI) will now provide a more timely indication of the housing market. The index will be published no later than 15 days after the transaction month.

"We have been thrilled with the growing adoption of the Teranet - National Bank HPI as the standard in measuring the rate of change in Canadian house prices" said Simon Côté, Managing Director - Risk Management Solutions at National Bank.  "We are excited to be able to deliver this trustworthy and reliable data within two weeks after month end".

The Teranet - National Bank House Price Index is an independent representation of the rate of change of Canadian single-family home prices. The measurements are based on the property records of public land registries, where sale price is available. The monthly indices cover 11 Canadian metropolitan areas: Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Québec, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg. Indices are published monthly, on the last Wednesday of each month, on www.housepriceindex.ca. Since its launch in December 2008, the index has steadily gained acceptance on a path to becoming a Canadian benchmark. It is now perceived by many as the most accurate measure of change in Canadian house prices.

"This is great news for our growing base of 12,000 Canadian and international subscribers who depend on the index for timely housing data in order to keep abreast of Canadian housing market dynamics" added Eduardo Alzamora, Director, Financial Services at Teranet.  "We continuously look for ways to enhance our HPI and look forward to sharing even more exciting developments in the near future".

The Teranet - National Bank House Price Index is based on the "repeat sales methodology", which is widely accepted as the most reliable and robust approach for tracking the housing market. In fact, this same methodology is used for the house price benchmark index in the United States. To be included in the calculation, properties must have been sold at least twice. The two prices are used to measure the increase or decrease in property value in the period between the two transactions.

The index will now be published monthly no later than 15 days after the transaction month at www.housepriceindex.ca. The actual and historical values of the index, as well as a description of the methodology, are also available on this site.

About Teranet
Founded in 1991, Teranet owns and operates Ontario's Electronic Land Registration System, one of the world's most advanced land registration systems, enabling users to conduct electronic registrations as well as title and writ searches relating to real property. Teranet's comprehensive suite of related data products have fundamentally increased the real estate industry's ability to provide efficient and secure services to the public. Teranet has built a well-established customer base and strong brand confidence, providing electronic services to a network of over 80,000 end users including lawyers, paralegals, real estate brokers and agents, search houses, title insurers, financial institutions, governments, police services, utilities, investigators and appraisers. Teranet is owned by Borealis Infrastructure, a leader in direct infrastructure investing with over a decade of investment experience and almost CAD 20 billion in capital under management. Borealis invests in and manages a diversified portfolio of large-scale infrastructure assets exhibiting stability and strong cash flows, in sectors including energy, transportation and government-regulated services. It has offices in Toronto, London and New York. Borealis is the infrastructure investment arm of the OMERS Worldwide group of companies. OMERS is one of Canada's largest pension funds with net assets of more than CAD 55 billion and an AAA credit rating. For more information about Teranet, visit www.teranet.ca.

About National Bank of Canada
With $184 billion in assets as at January 31, 2013, National Bank of Canada (www.nbc.ca), together with its subsidiaries, forms one of Canada's leading integrated financial groups, and was named among the 20 strongest banks in the world by Bloomberg Markets. The Bank has close to 20,000 employees and is widely recognized as a top employer. Its securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: NA). Follow the Bank's activities via social media and learn more about its extensive community involvement at clearfacts.ca and commitment.nationalbank.ca.

SOURCE: National Bank of Canada