Helio · Markets · Supplyas of Oct 26, 2026
Halifax Housing Supply
Every residential unit committed (a building permit issued) versus delivered (that permit marked completed) across HRM, month by month, aggregated from ~217,000 HRM permit records — a supply series no public source publishes.
As of Oct 26, 2026 · 71 months of HRM permit history · Dec 2020 – Oct 2026
Committed vs. delivered
The core series. Commitment runs well ahead of delivery every month — a permit issued is a decision, not a building. The distance between the two lines is the real backlog.
Committed vs. delivered units, by month
Gold bars are units on building permits issued that month; the green line is units on permits marked completed. The persistent gap between them — 17,856 units committed but not yet delivered across the full record — is the story: Halifax is permitting far faster than it finishes.
The application pipeline
Upstream of the permit: development applications entering HRM's planning queue, clearing it, or dying in it.
Application pipeline — submitted, approved & the graveyard
Development applications entering, clearing, and dying in HRM's planning queue, month by month. Only 225 applications have died across the entire 71-month record — the queue overwhelmingly resolves, it just resolves slowly.
Demolitions permitted
Residential demolition permits issued each month — 1,087 across the full record. Every bar is stock coming off the board before new supply lands in its place.
Supply by community
Where the units are committed — the twenty HRM communities with the most residential units on issued permits, against how many have actually been delivered.
| Community | Committed units | Delivered units | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| HALIFAX | 13,588 | 4,374 | 1,058 |
| DARTMOUTH | 7,429 | 2,155 | 572 |
| BEDFORD | 2,604 | 1,260 | 595 |
| HAMMONDS PLAINS | 1,193 | 435 | 279 |
| UPPER HAMMONDS PLAINS | 976 | 165 | 25 |
| LOWER SACKVILLE | 883 | 161 | 99 |
| BEAVER BANK | 638 | 329 | 187 |
| MIDDLE SACKVILLE | 526 | 397 | 361 |
| PORTERS LAKE | 481 | 135 | 168 |
| TIMBERLEA | 441 | 247 | 308 |
| BEECHVILLE | 314 | 294 | 250 |
| Unknown | 299 | 188 | 84 |
| LUCASVILLE | 250 | 167 | 64 |
| FALL RIVER | 221 | 151 | 198 |
| LAWRENCETOWN | 202 | 31 | 53 |
| EASTERN PASSAGE | 199 | 97 | 60 |
| UPPER TANTALLON | 186 | 143 | 160 |
| COLE HARBOUR | 134 | 92 | 89 |
| HERRING COVE | 91 | 56 | 72 |
| HUBLEY | 90 | 77 | 90 |
The parcel-level detail behind every unit is on the map.
Helio Urban Development is a technology-led real estate company in Halifax that reads this record against its own development pipeline.
SOURCE & METHODOLOGY · Halifax Regional Municipality building and construction permit records, aggregated by Helio. Committed = net new residential units on permits issued; delivered = units on permits marked completed. Updated weekly. · Delivery lags commitment by months to years, so the most recent months systematically undercount delivery — a permit issued last month cannot yet be complete. Read the tail of the delivered line as provisional, not as a slowdown. Application counts (submitted / approved / died) and demolition permits come from the same municipal permit and planning record. Community attribution is by permit civic address; a small share of delivered units carry no resolved community and so the by-community delivered totals sit slightly below the citywide total.