Construction Spending Slips in November
In what the Associated General Contractors of America termed "divergent trends," total construction spending slipped In November compared to a month earlier, yet maintaing a strong rate of year-over-year growth. Highlighting the trend, sales of new single-family homes climbed 4.3% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 490,000 units.
AGC officials noted the new spending data demonstrate uncertainty within the private sector about the need for new projects and govenrment officials worry about budget contstraints. Some of the fast growing categories - multifamily, manufacturing and lodging - have stalled, they noted in a press release. November spending was 0.4% lower than October and 10.5% higher than November 2014.
“Compared to October levels, spending dipped overall but climbed for homebuilding, school and office construction. Previously fast-growing categories such as multifamily, manufacturing and lodging construction have stalled for the past two to four months. Yet nearly every type of construction has outperformed its 2014 pace through the first 11 months of 2015," noted Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist.
New single-family home sales were "encouraging" as they continued their upward tick, said Tom Woods, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Blue Springs, Mo. “Builders are also increasing their inventory even as they face difficulties accessing lots and labor.”
You can find the NAHB's news release here. “Limited gains in new-home sales can be attributed to a weak existing sales report,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.
The inventory of new homes for sale was 232,000 units in November. This is a 5.7-month supply at the current sales pace.
PRO CONTRACTOR RENTALS MAGAZINE
Pro Contractor Rentals provides information of value to rental centers who focus time, resources and attention on meeting the demands of construction contractors and other equipment rental customers.
