Residential construction activity increased in February due to a rise in new multi-residential starts.

Last month there were 128 total housing starts compared to 86 in February 2008.   This increase of nearly 50 per cent was due primarily to the 90 apartment-style units started in the month.  In 2008, there were no apartment starts in January or February.  On a year-to-date basis, overall starts figues increased to 185 units-an increase of 13 per cent due ot the strength in February.

In terms of single-detached housing starts, there was a decrease in February from 73 to 22 units for the month compared to February 2008.  Year-to-date single starts were off by 50 per cent from where they were a year ago.  The semi-detached and row-housing market, however, remained stable.  Both starts and unit under construction for these style units were essentially unchanged from year to year.

In spite of the fact that they 185 starts in January and February are 33 per cent below the ten-year average of 275, the industry remains quite active.  As of February, there were 1,813 total units under construction which is seven per cent higher than the current ten-year average for the month of February of 1,722.

Halifax City and Dartmouth City continue to record the highest number of units under construction in Metro.  Dartmouth City, however, was the only submarket to see an increase in units under construction.  There were 686 units sill under construction in the submarket in February-an increase of 23 per cent while starts were down 39 per cent compared to last February.  In Dartmouth City there were only six completions last month compared to 317 in February 2008.

The average absorption price for a single-detached home decreased due to a shift towards less expensive homes.  This change in the next of new homes resulted in a 12 per cent decline in the average new single-detached home price.  Through the first two months of the year, the average absorption price was $316,426 compared to $360,341 at this time last year.

To view entire article go to www.cmhc.ca - look for "Housing Now-Halifax CMA-Date Released: March 2009".