New housing prices rose slightly across Canada in June, but a Bank of Nova Scotia report says the global real estate rebound is losing momentum.

Both global housing prices and demand fell in the second quarter, the bank's Global Real Estate Trends Report said on Tuesday, despite a favourable start to 2010.

"Global real estate markets entered 2010 with a renewed sense of optimism, piggybacking on the broader economic recovery under way," economist Adrienne Warne wrote in the report. "Housing demand and pricing improved in the first quarter of the year in the majority of the advanced nations we track, benefitting from ultra-low interest rates, improved affordability, and in some cases, government purchase incentives."

The report blamed weakening growth, market volatility and weak job data for the slowdown.

But there were double-digit gains in Canada and Australia in inflation adjusted pricing. Other countries such as Sweden, the U.K. and Switzerland saw smaller gains.

Warne wrote that she expects Canadian housing prices to flatten for the rest of 2010.

"In some of the hardest-hit markets facing ongoing deleveraging by households and governments, the U.S., the U.K., Spain and Ireland included, Scotia Economics continues to anticipate a multi-year period of adjustment," the report stated. "In higher growth nations such as Canada and Australia, housing activity should prove much more subdued than in recent years."

New Canadian numbers

New housing prices in June rose 0.1 per cent according to Statistics Canada, following a 0.3 per cent increase in May.

But July's housing starts slipped to 189,200, led mostly by a decline in new single-unit homes, according to numbers released Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

The figures came in higher than expected but are still a 1.6 per cent monthly decline from June. It was the third straight month of housing start declines in Canada.

Urban starts were down 14.8 per cent in British Columbia and 2.6 per cent in Ontario.

The Atlantic provinces saw the biggest increase, up 37.7 per cent.

Prices fell in seven of 21 metropolitans areas, according to the StatsCan report, notably in Regina (down 0.4 per cent) and Charlottetown (down 0.3).

New housing prices gained the most in New Brunswick, where Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton say a 1.3 per cent increase.

Year-over-year the index was up 3.3 per cent.