NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending for July continued to increase, rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $387 billion. On a month-over-month basis, private single-family spending was $218 billion, up by 2.1% over the revised June estimate. Private multifamily spending declined to $52 billion, down by 2.2%, after three months of consecutive gains.

Annually, multifamily spending rose 21.2% from the revised July 2014 estimate, and spending on single-family construction was 15.8% higher.

The NAHB-constructed spending index, which is shown in the graph below (the base is January 2000), indicates that recent gains have been driven by the steady increase in multifamily construction spending. The pace of the multifamily spending is gradually slowing. NAHB anticipates accelerating growth for single-family spending in 2015.

The pace of total nonresidential construction spending increased by 0.5% monthly in July, and the annual increase from the revised July 2014 estimate was 12.7%. The largest contribution to this year-over-year nonresidential spending gain was made by the class of manufacturing-related construction (73% increase), followed by lodging (40% increase) and amusement/recreation (34% increase).

Tags: construction spending, economics, home building, housing, multifamily