National Association of Home Builders analysis of US Census construction spending data found Friday that over the last year, the pace of private single-family construction spending increased 7.8 per cent and multifamily construction spending increased 23.4 per cdent, despite monthly declines for March.
For the month, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of single-family construction spending was US$200.7 billion, down 1.8 per cent from February. The March rate of multifamily construction spending was US$49.2 billion, 2.1 per cent lower than February.
It is worth noting that the Census measure for total private residential construction spending shows a 2.6 per cent year-over-year decline, despite annual gains for single-family and multifamily development. This decline is due to a decrease in the separate improvement category, which contrasts with other measures, including the NAHB Remodeling Market Index, which indicates strength for the home improvement sector.
From March 2014, the pace of combined public and private non-residential construction spending increased 4.7 per cent on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis to US$611.8 billion. From February 2015, non-residential spending was effectively flat, declining 0.1 per cent.
The largest year-over-year gains for nonresidential construction spending have been experienced by the classes of manufacturing-related construction, with a 50.7 per cent gain.