The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending said that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place in March was up 0.4 percent month-over-month. Spending on single-family fell for the 11th month in a row while spending on improvements was reported to be up 0.3 percent.
Multifamily construction spending inches higher
The reported value of total private residential construction put in place in March 2023 was $827.7 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This figure, which includes spending on both new construction and on improvements, was reported to be down $1.4 billion from February’s sharply revised figure. February’s residential spending was revised downward by $23.0 billion in this month’s report. Residential construction spending in March was reported to be down 10.0 percent year-over-year.
The value of new private construction of multifamily residential buildings put in place in March was reported to be $123.2 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up $430 million from the revised (+$18 million) level for February. The value of multifamily housing construction put in place in March 2023 was 23.0 percent higher than the level of March 2022.
By comparison, the Census Bureau’s New Residential Construction report said the number of unit completions in March in buildings with 5 or more units fell after a blockbuster February. Completions were reported to be down 7 percent month-over-month but were 60 percent higher than their year-earlier level.
State and local governments were reported to have put $9.9 billion in residential construction in place in March on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis.
The value of new single-family residential construction put in place in March was $366.3 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was down $2.8 billion (0.8 percent) from the revised (+$0.8 billion) level for February and was down 22.9 percent from the level of March 2022.
The value of improvements to residential buildings put in place in March was reported to be $338.1 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was down 2.0 percent from the year-earlier level and was up $1.0 billion from the revised (-$23.8 billion) level for February. 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 December 2011. The chart illustrates that the reported value of new multifamily residential construction put in place surged last fall but has risen more slowly in recent months. The value of single-family residential construction put in place has continued to decline, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent months. The value of improvements to residential buildings put in place has been falling recently with the large downward revision to January’s and February’s results in this month’s report accounting for much of that slide.
The report from the Census Bureau also includes information on spending on other types of construction projects. The full report can be found here.
