July 5, 2011 (Shirley Allen)

Private residential construction spending declined 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $228.9 billion in May 2011 compared to a revised estimate of $233.8 billion in April 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall private construction spending was down 0.4 percent, from a seasonally adjusted $479.3 billion in April 2011 to $477.2 billion in May 2011.

Private construction spending on new single-family homes declined 0.3 percent from April 2011 to May 2011 to a seasonally adjusted rate of $105.2 billion. April’s estimate was upwardly revised from $104.6 billion to $105.5 billion. Single-family home construction spending was down 11.9 percent compared to May of 2010, which recorded construction spending at a seasonally adjusted rate of $119.3 billion

Multi-family private construction spending declined 2.1 percent in May 2011 from April 2011, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $13.2 billion. April’s estimate was also upwardly revised from $12.8 billion to $13.5 billion. Multi-family spending was down 6.8 percent compared to May 2010 which saw spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $14.2 billion.

The remainder of the private residential construction spending in May, $110.5 billion, was money spent for any type of construction to an existing structure ranging from remodeling to additions to swimming pools to replacement of major systems such as HVAC systems. This was a decrease from $114.6 billion in April and a decrease from $111.7 billion in May of 2010.

Tags: Census Bureau, residential construction spending, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, seasonally adjusted annual rate, remodeling, additions

Source:
Census Bureau