UPDATE 1-Canadian home prices rise in Feb, boosted by Vancouver

(Adds details from report)
OTTAWA, March 14 (Reuters) - Canadian home prices rose in
February, driven by a surge in the already-strong Vancouver
market, data showed on Monday in the latest sign of a growing
divide in the country's real estate sectors.
Prices gained 0.6 percent from January, according to data
from the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, the
largest increase for the month of February since the 2008-09
recession.
Compared to a year ago, prices were up 6.5 percent, making
for the largest annual increase since January 2012. The index
measures price changes for repeat sales of single-family homes.
Although prices climbed on a monthly basis in six of the 11
metropolitan areas covered in the survey, it was the 3.2 percent
jump in Vancouver that lifted the overall index, the report
said.
Price fluctuations in the other markets essentially canceled
each other out, the report said.
It was the fourteenth month in a row that prices in
Vancouver have gained, while the region's Real Estate Board said
it was the highest selling February on record.
The west coast city has been the focus of debate over
whether such lofty price increases are sustainable or whether
costs are being boosted by overseas buyers.
Canada's housing market growth has been robust in the years
since the global financial crisis, partly boosted by cheap
borrowing costs. But a more varied market has emerged recently,
with price gains continuing in the hot markets of Toronto and
Vancouver, with the energy-sensitive regions slowing, and the
rest of the country plodding along.
Indeed, in Calgary, prices fell 0.9 percent in February and
were 3.3 percent lower than a year ago. Home prices in the city
are down 5.4 percent from their peak in October 2014.