UPDATE 1-Canada Sept new housing prices rise unexpectedly

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OTTAWA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The average price of new homes in Canada unexpectedly rose 0.1 percent in September from August, while the year-on-year price increase continued its decline but remained in positive territory, according to Statistics Canada data on Monday.

A Reuters survey of analysts had forecast a month-on-month decline of 0.1 percent. Prices rose from August levels in seven metropolitan areas, were unchanged in seven others and fell in seven more.

The annual increase was 2.1 percent, a decline from 2.3 percent in August and the lowest level since the 2.0 percent rise in March 2000.

The year-on-year price rise has subsided from a recent peak of 12.1 percent in August 2006 and a 2008 high of 6.5 percent registered in January, as an overheated market in the energy- and commodity-rich West cooled off.

The only two cities to show annual price falls are Calgary and Edmonton -- 1.2 percent and 5.8 percent respectively -- in the oil province of Alberta. Prices there are still more than 130 percent higher than they were in 1997. LINK * Statistics Canada report here (Reporting by Randall Palmer, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)