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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HighlightsNAHB/Wells Fargo HMI June: Increase to 60 after 4 consecutive months at 58 Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) dropped to 8.6 months in Q1 2016 |
Construction UpdateApril to May 2016 housing permits flat with 0.7% gain; Starts flat with 0.3% drop May 2016 new single family house sales fell 6.0% below April 2016 to 551K |
Economic UpdateMay 2016 CPI-U (Inflation) rose 0.2%, falling back from April's 0.4% gain Construction employment mirrors Construction PiP year-over-year growth |
Key Takeaways
- The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) rose to 60 in June, showing improved builders' confidence after holding solid at 58 for four consecutive months, with the most gains in the future sales component of the index
- The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported a slight contraction in their Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) Index to 8.6 months in Q1 2016, a 0.8% decline from Q4 2015
- In May 2016, housing permits were flat with a 0.7% gain from April 2016 to 1.1M, which was 10.1% below the April 2015 estimate
- Likewise, housing starts were flat with a 0.3% contraction from the April 2016 estimate at 1.2M, with only slight increases in both the single family and multi-family segments
- New single family house sales dropped 6.0% in May 2016 down to 551,000 after an impressive gain in April, still is 8.7% above May 2015 estimate
- The CPI-U, which indicates inflation, rose by 0.2% in May 2016, falling back from the 0.4% gain in April 2016
- Recent construction employment reports show dips in jobs added, however year-over-year shows a much more positive outlook; construction job additions have shown a 3.4% increase overall, mirroring the Construction Put-in-Place growth. (Check out my latest blog post, Should We Be Worried About Dropping Construction Employment Numbers, for more insights and suggestions for approaching construction labor shortages)
