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?
|
HighlightsAccording to the LIRA, b Q4 2017 remodeling growth at 6.7% to $317B Builders’ confidence settled back to 65 in February 2017, a more substainable level |
Construction UpdateDecember 016 ABI jumped to 55.9, well above the neutral threshold (of 50) ENR’s Construction Cost Index is at 1.0% annually, after contractions in wages |
Economic UpdateJanuary 2017 CPI-U (Inflation) rose 0.6%, with strong gains in energy index 34 of 51 large MSAs show 12-month unemployment decreases |
Key Takeaways
- By Q4 2017, the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) projects remodeling spending will reach $617B and grow 6.7%
- The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) in February 2017 dipped 2 points to 65, following 67 in January and the recent high of 69 in December
- The Architectural Billings Index (ABI), a 9-12 month leading indicator for commercial construction, jumped to 55.9 in December 2016, marking its highest score in 2016
- In January 2017, the Construction Cost Index (CCI) by ENR showed 1% annual growth, after contraction in construction costs and wages
- CPI-U which indicates inflation made further gains in January 2017 by 0.6%, following a 0.3% increase in December 2016
- 34 of the 51 large MSAs (1M+ population) showed year-over-year unemployment rate decreases in December 2016, with Boston-Cambridge-Nashua having the lowest rate of 2.5%
