October Private Residential Construction Spending Rises

Private residential construction spending grew by 1.5% in October, according to the most recent US Census Construction Spending statistics.

Year over year, the October report indicated a 6.4% increase.

The monthly rise in overall private construction spending was mostly due to higher spending on residential upgrades.

Improvement spending increased by 2.7% in October, and it was 18.5% greater than the same period previous year.

Single-family building spending increased by 0.8% this month.

This indicates the continuance of increase following a five-month dip from April to August, which is consistent with improving builder confidence. Single-family construction spending increased 1.3% over the previous year.

Meanwhile, multifamily construction spending halted a ten-month record of falls, increasing by 0.2% in October. Despite the tiny monthly increase, multifamily construction spending is 6.8% lower than a year ago.

The graph below shows the NAHB construction spending index.

The index shows how spending on single-family building has decreased since early 2024 due to high mortgage rates.

Multifamily construction spending growth has likewise declined from its peak in July 2023.

Meanwhile, upgrade investment has accelerated since late 2023.

Spending on private nonresidential building increased 3.5% over the previous year.

The annual rise in private nonresidential spending was mostly attributable to increasing spending in the manufacturing category ($32.9 billion), followed by power ($6.4 billion).

[Read more about this topic on Eyeonhousing.org]