Residential housing starts were down 1% in October as construction of multifamily units slipped according to data from Dodge Data & Analytics
Residential housing starts were down 1% in October as construction of multifamily units slipped according to data from Dodge Data & Analytics.
But it was non-residential construction starts which really took a dive, dropping 30% ($258.7 bn annual rate) following the 37% surge in the previous month. This was due to the mammoth $6 billion ethane cracker plant, and a $4 billion Delta terminal at La Guardia, which were included in the September figure.
The commercial group was able to shake off a decline in office building to post a 10% rise in October.
"The pace for nonresidential building in September was unsustainably high, so October's decline was expected. Nonresidential building is still on track to show moderate growth for 2017 as a whole, helping to keep the expansion for overall construction activity going,” said Robert A. Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics.
For home building, the pullback on multifamily was 3% due to a lower number of $100m+ projects started in the month (4 compared to September’s 7).
New York NY, Miami FL, Washington DC, Seattle WA, and Los Angeles CA, were the top 5 metros for multifamily starts in dollar terms.
“Multifamily housing is retreating from a very strong 2016, but to this point the retreat has been modest. And, the downward pull coming from nonbuilding construction appears to be easing, given the ongoing strength shown by pipeline projects and some recent improvement by highways, bridges, and mass transit," Murray said.
Single-family starts held steady with the five major regions in the sector during the first 10 months of 2017 revealed as the South Atlantic, up 11%; the South Central, up 8%; the West, up 7%; the Midwest, up 5%; and the Northeast, down 1%.
The overall total for residential construction starts was $295.9 billion (annual rate).
But it was non-residential construction starts which really took a dive, dropping 30% ($258.7 bn annual rate) following the 37% surge in the previous month. This was due to the mammoth $6 billion ethane cracker plant, and a $4 billion Delta terminal at La Guardia, which were included in the September figure.
The commercial group was able to shake off a decline in office building to post a 10% rise in October.
"The pace for nonresidential building in September was unsustainably high, so October's decline was expected. Nonresidential building is still on track to show moderate growth for 2017 as a whole, helping to keep the expansion for overall construction activity going,” said Robert A. Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics.
For home building, the pullback on multifamily was 3% due to a lower number of $100m+ projects started in the month (4 compared to September’s 7).
New York NY, Miami FL, Washington DC, Seattle WA, and Los Angeles CA, were the top 5 metros for multifamily starts in dollar terms.
“Multifamily housing is retreating from a very strong 2016, but to this point the retreat has been modest. And, the downward pull coming from nonbuilding construction appears to be easing, given the ongoing strength shown by pipeline projects and some recent improvement by highways, bridges, and mass transit," Murray said.
Single-family starts held steady with the five major regions in the sector during the first 10 months of 2017 revealed as the South Atlantic, up 11%; the South Central, up 8%; the West, up 7%; the Midwest, up 5%; and the Northeast, down 1%.
The overall total for residential construction starts was $295.9 billion (annual rate).
