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The number of dormant construction sites has increased by 50 percent in the past 1-1/2 years despite improvements in the real estate market, according to city buildings department data. 

In August 2009, the year the Department of Buildings began tracking stalled construction sites, there were 403 stagnating sites. Last month, the total had climbed to 680.

Because the buildings department created a special unit that monitors stalled construction sites, it's possible part of the spike could be due to increased inspections. Another possibility could be more developers are taking advantage of a four-year extension on building permits for those who report their sites as dormant and comply with safety requirements that went into effect October 2009.

Michael Slattery, of the Real Estate Board of New York, said developers may be coming to the realization that work at their sites won't be starting anytime soon. Slattery said a lack of financing is still a problem, and no developer wants to go through the permit process more than once.

"It's time consuming. It can be slow and it just is another delay. Certainly, for these projects that have experienced too much of a delay at the moment," Slattery said.

According to the most recent building's department data, Brooklyn had the most stalled construction sites with 315. The largest portion were in the Greenpoint and Williamsburg area. But according to the Real Estate Board of New York sales in those neighborhoods are pretty solid.

Slattery says, "It sends kind of a mixed signal about the market."