The number of new housing starts in Halifax last month dropped to less than half what the city saw last July.

There were 150 housing starts recorded in July compared to 378 in the same month last year, according to figures released Thursday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

“Really, the big story in July was that single (home starts) were up by about 10 per cent and multiples were down,” said Tim Andrews, market analyst with CMHC.

That seems a little confusing in a city that seems awash in cranes.

“Just because there’s a crane in the sky doesn’t mean that it started this month,” Andrews said.

“It could have started a couple of months ago.”

Builders started 107 single-detached homes in the city last month, he said.

“Singles have been up for four consecutive months now, so there certainly is some demand on the single-detached side,” he said.

Last year was very strong for apartment starts in Halifax. In July 2011, builders started 281 units; last month, work on just 43 units got underway.

“We had 1,724 apartment starts over 2011,” Andrews said.

“In 2010, we had 1,043 apartment starts. In 2009, we had about 599 apartment starts,” he said.

The city saw foundations poured last month on 28 semi-detached homes and 15 row housing units.

“Last year, we had 20 semis and no rows,” in July, Andrews said.

CMHC is forecasting 1,250 apartment units and 1,100 single-detached homes will be built in Halifax this year.

(business@herald.ca)