A monthly measurement of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning climbed 8.1 percent in July after a 2.4-percent decrease in June, McGraw-Hill Construction reported this week.
“Combined, these projects have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year,” MHC said. “The institutional building segment of the Momentum Index advanced 9.0 percent in July after a sharp 11.2-percent decline in June. An uptick in new planning projects for education buildings (+5.8 percent) aided the gain in institutional building, although two new hospitals (one in Connecticut and one in California) dominated the projects entering planning. The commercial building segment…climbed 7.3 percent in June, even stronger than last month’s revised 6.7-percent improvement. Commercial building was helped by a small 2.5-percent gain in new plans for office projects. One of the projects contributing to this increase was Apple’s new plan for expansion of its Austin, Texas, campus.”
Meanwhile the Association of General Contractors said apartment construction is likely to double this year, from about 36,000 units in the 54 top U.S. metropolitan areas in 2011, to about 75,000 unit this year. AGC quoted from the online newsletter CoStar Advisor. AGC reported that capital for apartment construction finance is widely available in primary markets.
