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?
Highlights
The ABI rebounded in August 2017, up to 53.7 from 51.9 in July. It was the seventh consecutive month firms reported increasing demand for design services.
In September 2017, the HMI fell 3 points to 64. Concerns over rising labor and material costs as a result of hurricane damage repairs could be a factor in the moderation in builders' confidence.
Construction Update
In August 2017, housing permits reflected an annual rate of 1.3M. Due to a large month-over-month increase in Multi-family permits, overall permit activity is still 8.3% above the August 2016, year-ago rate.
Housing starts in August 2017 were 1.4% above their year-ago rate. The 17.1% annual growth in Single Family starts was offset by the 24.7% annual drop in Multi-Family starts.
560K new Single Family homes were sold in August 2017, 1.2% below the revised year-ago, August 2016 rate. The median sales price dipped again to $300K, below the long-term average.
Economic Update
42 of the 51 large MSAs (1M+ population) showed year-over-year unemployment rate decreases in August 2017. Again, Denver, CO had the lowest rate, at 2.2%.
In September 2017 the CCI showed a 4% annual gain in construction costs, supported by ongoing increases in labor and material components.
