OTTAWA — New home prices edged up 0.1% in December, according to Statistics Canada, with Winnipeg leading the gains.

Economists had expected the federal agency’s new home price index to rise 0.2% in December, following a 0.3% advance in the previous month.

The index showed a 1.1% gain in Winnipeg, as well as a 0.3% increase in Halifax and a 0.2% rise in Toronto and Oshawa.

The biggest decline was in Windsor, Ont., down 0.6%, followed by Montreal and Quebec, which both recorded a 0.3% drop.

The slower pace of price increases reflects a weakening in Canada’s housing market.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Real Estate Association revised up its outlook for housing resales in 2011, but is still calling for sales to fall 1.6% this year to 439,900 units and for prices to edge up by only 1.3% in each of 2011 and 2012.

Meanwhile, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts totalled 170,400 units during in January, down more than 10% from 2010’s total of 189,930 units.