April 3, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Private residential construction spending remained virtually unchanged from January as spending for single-family residences dipped in February while spending on multi-family construction increased according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Spending for private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $246.5 billion in February, up slightly from a revised estimate of $246.4 billion in January.
Total monthly spending by builders for both residential and non-residential private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $527.3 billion, down from the revised estimate of $531.6 billion in January.
The estimate for private residential construction spending in January was revised downward almost $7.2 billion, turning January’s reported 1.8 percent increase into a 1.1 percent decline, while the estimate for all private construction, which had been reported as unchanged from the previous month, was also revised downward by $7.0 billion, leading to a 1.3 percent decline in January.
Builders spent 5.6 percent more on private residential construction in February than they did a year ago when $233.4 billion was spent, while the total amount builders spent for all private construction was 10.2 percent higher than the $478.7 billion spent in February of last year.
Construction spending for new private single-family homes fell 1.5 percent from January to February with builders spending a seasonally adjusted $111.5 billion in February. The estimate for January was revised upward from $111.2 billion to $113.2 billion.
Single-family home construction spending was 4.2 percent higher than in February of 2011, when builders spent $107.0 billion on building new single-family homes.
Multi-family private construction spending was 2.0 percent higher than in January, climbing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $17.2 billion. The estimate for January was revised upward from $16.1 billion to $16.8 billion.
Multi-family construction spending was 25.7 percent higher than in February of last year, when builders spent a seasonally adjusted $13.7 billion on multi-family dwellings.
The remainder of the private residential construction spending in February, $117.7 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 a downwardly revised $116.3 billion in January and up from the $112.7 billion spent in February of 2011.
Tags: residential construction spending, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, seasonally adjusted annual rate, remodeling, additions
Source:
Census Bureau