The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending said that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place in February was up 1.4 percent month-over-month. Spending on single-family housing fell for the 10th month in a row while spending on improvements managed a small increase on top of a significant upward revision to the prior month’s figure.
Multifamily spending higher
The reported value of total private residential construction put in place in February 2023 was $852.1 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This figure, which includes spending on both new construction and on improvements, was reported to be down $4.8 billion from January’s revised figure. However, January’s spending was revised upward by $9.6 billion in this month’s report. Residential construction spending in February was down 5.7 percent year-over-year.
The value of new private construction of multifamily housing put in place in February was reported to be $122.8 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up $1.7 billion from the revised (+$528 million) level for January. The value of multifamily housing construction put in place in February 2023 was 23.8 percent higher than the level of February 2022.
By comparison, the Census Bureau’s New Residential Construction report said the number of unit completions in buildings with 5 or more units jumped higher in February, rising 45 percent month-over-month and 72 percent year-over-year.
State and local governments were reported to have put $9.2 billion in residential construction in place in February on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis.
The value of new single-family residential construction put in place in February was $368.3 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was down $6.7 billion (1.8 percent) from the revised (+$0.6 billion) level for January and was down 21.4 percent from the level of February 2022.
The value of improvements to residential buildings put in place in February was reported to be $360.9 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up 8.0 percent from the year-earlier level and was up fractionally from the revised (+$8.5 billion) level for January. The Census Bureau does not separate out improvements for single-family and multifamily residential buildings.
Charting the data
The following chart shows the value of residential construction put in place each month since January 2012. The chart illustrates that the value of new multifamily residential construction put in place has increased recently while the value of single-family residential construction put in place has continued to decline. The value of improvements to residential buildings put in place has rebounded over the last few months after falling from the peak it reached last July.
The report from the Census Bureau also includes information on spending on other types of construction projects. The latest report can be found here.
