December 1, 2011 (Shirley Allen)
Private residential construction spending gained some unexpected momentum in October, increasing 3.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $239.0 billion, up from a revised estimate of $231.2 billion in September according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the second consecutive month of improvement for residential builders.
Total monthly spending by builders for both residential and non-residential private construction increased 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $518.6 billion, up from the revised estimate of $507.1 billion in September.
The estimate for private residential construction spending in September was revised upward almost $3 billion and the estimate for all types of private construction was also revised upward $5.3 billion, making the gains that were posted in September even higher.
Private residential construction in October was 1.7 percent higher than in October of last year when builders spent $235.0 billion, while the total amount builders spent for all private construction was 5.2 percent higher than the $492.9 billion spent a year ago.
Private construction spending on new single-family homes increased 0.6 percent from September to October as builders spent a seasonally adjusted $107.5 billion in October. The estimate in September was downwardly revised from $107.1 billion to $106.9 billion.
Single-family home construction spending was 1.0 percent higher than in October of 2010, when builders spent $106.4 billion on construction.
Multi-family private construction spending declined 0.8 percent from September to October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $14.9 billion. The estimate for September was also downwardly revised from $15.1 billion to $15.0 billion.
Multi-family construction spending was 6.7 percent higher than in October 2010, when builders spent a seasonally adjusted $14.0 billion.
The remainder of the private residential construction spending in October, $116.5 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 an increase from an upwardly revised $109.2 billion in September and also up from the $114.5 billion spent in October of 2010.
Tags: residential construction spending, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, seasonally adjusted annual rate, remodeling, additions
Source:
Census Bureau
