TORONTO -- The Teranet-National Bank index of Canadian housing prices continues to show the effects of a cooling trend that has hovered over the real estate market for more than a year.

The index was at 153 last month, up just 2.7 per cent from January 2012 -- the lowest 12-month growth rate since November 2009.

It was also the 14th consecutive month of shrinking year-over-year price increases and the fifth consecutive month-to-month decline, with the index was down 0.3 per cent from December.

Vancouver, which is Canada's most expensive residential real estate market, was the only city on the index to show a year-over-year decline, dropping 2.5 per cent compared with January 2012.

Victoria, on the other hand, had its first year-over-year gain in 13 months, while three other cities showed month-to-month gains.

The composite index covers 11 major urban centres.

Seven of 11 local markets tracked by the Teranet land registry system showed month-to-month declines: Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.

The four local markets that saw increases were: Halifax, Ottawa, Quebec and Victoria

It was the third month-to-month decrease in a row for Toronto and the fourth consecutive for Montreal.