July 3, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Spending on private residential construction increased for the second consecutive month in May as spending on both single-family and multifamily construction edged higher during month resulting in double digit gains for both compared to a year ago according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Spending for private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $261.3 billion in May, up 3.0 percent from a revised estimate of $253.8 billion in April.
Total monthly spending by builders for both residential and non-residential private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $560.4 billion, up 1.6 percent from the revised estimate of $551.8 billion in April.
The estimate for private residential construction spending in April was revised downward almost $2.3 billion, reducing April’s reported 2.8 percent increase into a 1.9 percent increase, while the estimate for all private construction, which had been reported as a 1.2 percent increase, was revised upward by $2.1 billion, resulting in a 1.5 percent increase in April.
Builders spent 7.5 percent more on private residential construction in May than they did a year ago when $243.0 billion was spent, while the total amount builders spent for all private construction was 13.1 percent higher than the $495.3 billion spent in May of last year.
Construction spending for new private single-family homes increased 1.8 percent from April to May with builders spending a seasonally adjusted $121.3 billion in May. The estimate for April was revised downward from $119.4 billion to $119.1 billion.
Single-family home construction spending was 14.8 percent higher than in May of 2011, when builders spent $105.7 billion on building new single-family homes.
Multi-family private construction spending was 6.3 percent higher than in April, climbing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $20.5 billion. The estimate for April was revised upward from $18.0 billion to $19.3 billion.
Multi-family construction spending was 50.3 percent higher than in May of last year, when builders spent a seasonally adjusted $13.6 billion on multi-family dwellings.
The remainder of the private residential construction spending in May, $119.6 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 $115.1 billion in April and down from the $123.8 billion spent in May of 2011.
Tags: residential construction spending, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, seasonally adjusted annual rate, remodeling, additions
Source:
Census Bureau
