Every two weeks, Oldcastle Building Solutions Business Intelligence prepares a report focused on understanding and analyzing construction market data and trends.
This in-depth report is developed primarily for internal distribution, but Oldcastle Building Solutions exists to inform construction professionals like you, so we're making this report available for anyone who's interested in reading it.
What's New In This Report?
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HighlightsNov 2016 HMI held steady at 63; its third month above 60 October 2016 ABI rebounded to 50.8, above the neutral threshold |
Construction UpdateOctober 2016 housing permits up 4.6% since last year; starts increased 23.3% New single-fmaily sales: 563k houses, 17.8% above the October 2015 estimate |
Economic UpdateUnemployment down to 4.6% with 178k non-farm jobs added in Nov 35 of 51 large MSAs show 12-month unemployment decreases |
Key Takeaways
- The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) in November 2016 held steady at 63, indicating that builders' confidence remains very positive
- The Architectural Billings Index (ABI), a 9-12 month leading indicator for commercial construction, rebounded to 50.8 in October 2016, above the 50 (neutral) threshold
- Housing permits increased in October 2016 with 4.6% growth from last year to 1.2M
- Housing starts also increased in October 2016 by 23.3% from last year to 1.3M; with strong year-over-year growth in both Single-family and Multi-family
- 563K new Single-family houses were sold in October 2016, 17.8% above the October 2015 estimate
- In November 2016 the unemployment rate dipped to 4.6%, with 178K non-farm jobs added
- 35 of the 51 large MSAs (1M+ population) showed year-over-year unemployment rate decreases in October 2016, with Boston-Cambridge-Nashua having the lowest rate at 2.6%
