While 2021 construction projects appear to be almost where they were in the first half of last year, residential work is enjoying a booming nearly 20% increase over the same period in 2020.
So says a new report just issued by Dodge Data & Analytics, showing that the residential sector has particularly been fueled by large multi-family housing projects in the nation’s largest urban areas.
In contrast, the study, 2Q Cost Report Economics, shows that non-residential starts for the first five months of this year were actually down by 5% over early 2020, with decreases particularly recorded in the hotel, office, and retail sectors.
One non-residential bright spot: public construction, particularly in environmental and utility-scale projects, which is up by 8%.
A separate study published by the same company, the Dodge Momentum Index, shows an overall decline of 5% last month in nonresidential building projects currently in the planning stage.
According to a Dodge press release the decline in June was the result of “losses in both institutional planning, which fell 7%, and commercial planning, which lost 4%.”
A wavering demand for retail and hotel projects, coupled with continued labor shortages, have only added to the challenges faced by the industry.
Even so, the Index is not only well above where it was exactly a year ago, it is actually nearing a 13-year high.
By Garry Boulard
