UPDATE 1-Canada home prices see first drop in a year, Calgary worst hit

(Adds regional detail, background)
TORONTO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Canadian home prices fell in
December from a month earlier, the first monthly decrease in a
year, as gains in Toronto and Vancouver were unable to offset
weakness elsewhere, the Teranet-National Bank Composite House
Price Index showed on Wednesday.
The index, which measures price changes for repeat sales of
single-family homes, showed national home prices fell 0.1
percent last month from November.
The report showed prices were flat or down in seven of the
11 markets surveyed, led by a 1.7 percent drop in Calgary, where
slumping oil prices have sideswiped Canada's energy heartland.
Prices were also down in the month by 1.5 percent in
Winnipeg, 1.4 percent in Ottawa, 1.3 percent in Montreal, 0.6
percent in Hamilton and 0.3 percent in Edmonton.
Prices were flat in Victoria.
The weakness was offset by Toronto and Vancouver, which saw
gains as usual, as well as Halifax and Quebec City.
The nation's two largest markets have defied forecasts for a
slowdown or price correction for years. Prices were up 1.1
percent in Vancouver in December - the 12th straight month
without a decline - while Halifax prices rose 1.5 percent,
Quebec City was up 0.5 percent, and Toronto prices edged up 0.2
percent, the 10th consecutive month without a decline.
While low prices for oil and other commodities have hit
Canada's export-driven economy hard, Toronto and Vancouver have
managed to keep the national housing market in positive
territory for much of 2015. Economists are divided over whether
prices there will see a U.S. style correction or merely plateau
in 2016 as the economy limps along.
Teranet said prices were up 6.2 percent from a year earlier,
led by a 12.9 percent gain in Vancouver, a 9.5 percent rise in
Toronto, an 8.8 percent rise in Hamilton and an 8.7 percent gain
in Victoria. Prices were up a more modest 2.6 percent in
Halifax, 0.4 percent in Montreal and 0.2 percent in Quebec City.
Prices were down from a year earlier by 2.6 percent in
Calgary, 1.1 percent in Edmonton, 2.1 percent in Ottawa and 1.1
percent in Winnipeg, the report showed.