Housing Starts and Existing Home Sales Decline in September
The housing market in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) recorded declines in both construction activity and existing homes sales in September.
New Construction:
There were a total of 191 housing starts recorded in September, significantly fewer than the 299 starts recorded last year. The decline in total housing starts is largely attributed to a decrease in multi-unit construction, specifically in the condominium and rental segments of the market. In the condo market, there were no new starts last month compared to 80 a year ago while in the rental market 80 units broke ground compared to 101 in September 2009.
Single-detached starts increased for the third consecutive month (and for the eighth time in the last nine months) in September to 105 starts. Semi-detached and row unit construction decreased from 20 starts a year ago to six last month.
Through nine months of the year, there were 1,823 starts recorded in the HRM, a substantial increase over the 1,326 starts recorded last year. Apartment construction increased from 414 starts a year ago to 719 starts year-to-date, a pace which is expected to slow in the final quarter of the year. Single-detached starts increased 27 per cent through the end of September to 792 starts. Despite the year-to-date increase, single-detached starts remain 21 per cent lower than the ten year, year-to-date average of 1,004 starts. In the condominium market, 98 starts have broken ground in 2010 compared to 87 last year.
In the new homes market, there were 91 new single-detached homes sold in the HRM in September compared to six year ago. The average sale price of the 91 new homes sold in September was $339,857. For the year, 746 new single-detached homes were sold in the HRM with an average sale price of $355,389; an increase over the 614 new single-detached homes sold last year at an average price of $335,831. New home prices increased the most in the Sackville submarket, 7.5 per cent to $310,221. The Halifax County Southwest and Dartmouth City submarkets each recorded price increases of 6.6 per cent. New home prices recorded little change in the Halifax City, Fall River – Beaverbank and Halifax County East submarkets while the Bedford – Hammonds Plains submarket recorded an average price decline of seven per cent.
Existing Home Sales:
Existing home sales in the HRM declined sharply in September as each submarket with the exception of Bedford – Hammonds Plains recorded a decrease in sales. There were 383 sales in the HRM last month, a decline of 23 per cent compared to last year. The largest decline in sales was reported in Fall River – Beaverbank where sales fell from 40 a year ago to 21 last month. Halifax City and Halifax County East posted declines of 41 and 29 per cent, respectively. The monthly reduction in sales activity is partially attributed to declining levels of full-time employment and modest real wage growth.
Through the first three quarters of the year, existing home sales have remained relatively flat compared to a year ago. There were 4,664 existing homes sales recorded in the first nine months of 2010 compared to 4,701 a year ago.
The average price of an existing home increased 1.8 per cent in September to $239,277. The strongest price growth was reported in the Halifax Country East and Sackville submarkets where prices increased 14 and 11 per cent, respectively. The Halifax City, Halifax County Southwest and Fall River – Beaverbank submarkets each recorded a decline in average sale prices last month.
For the year, the average sale price of an existing home in the HRM increased 5.6 per cent to $250,537 as each submarket posted a year-to-date increase in average price. The increase can be partially attributed to more demand for higher priced homes throughout the HRM and a reduction in supply and average days on market.
