Housing market conditions in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in July remained relatively unchanged compared to a month earlier.  The strength in existing home sales in June carried over into July while the subdued pace of new home construction continued.  A declining inventory of homes for sale resulted in an increase in the average selling price last month with the average price rising over five per cent compared to last year.

There were 179 new home starts last month compared to 284 in July 2008, representing a decline of 37 per cent.  The 95 single-detached starts represented a decrease of 29 per cent compared to a year ago and the 14 semi-detached and ten row units starts represented declines of 12.5 and 44.4 per cent respectively.  There were 60 rental units started in the month, which was the same as last year, while there were no apartment-style condo units started compared to 56 in July 2008.

All submarkets in HRM recorded fewer starts last month compared to a year ago.  Most of the construction activity was in the Dartmouth City submarket which recorded 60 rental apartment starts, 18 single-detached starts and eight semi and row unit starts.  Of the 95 single-detached starts in HRM last month, 20 of those were in Halifax Country Southwest with 16 in both Halifax City and Fall River-Beaver Bank.  Bedford-Hammonds Plains, Sackville and Halifax County East recorded 11, nine and five single starts respectively last month.

On a year-to-date basis, overall starts are 39.5 per cent lower than last year due to declines in all segments of the market with the exception of semi-detached starts, which have increased by 20 per cent in the January to July timeframe.  Single-detached construction activity is down by 36.3 per cent while rental apartment unit starts are 38 per cent lower.  The condo market remains muted in Halifax as no apartment-style condo starts have yet to be recorded this year compared to 121 in 2008.

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