OTTAWA: Canadian home prices climbed for a third straight time in July, rising 0.7% from June, but the index was lower than the month's 21-year average, data showed on Tuesday.

The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes. The rise in July followed a 0.8% gain in June and a 0.5% increase in May..

"As in the two previous months, the (July) gain was not really a sign of market vigor," said Marc Pinsonneault, a senior economist at the National Bank of Canada, given the increase was lower than what is traditionally seen at this time of the year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the composite index would show a retreat of 0.1% in July, Pinsonneault noted. Meanwhile, the annual gain, at 0.4%, was the smallest rise seen since November 2009.

Vancouver was the only metropolitan index of the 11 surveyed to see a decline in July, falling 1.0% - its 12th straight month without a rise.