The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending said that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place in February was down 0.03 percent from the revised level of the month before. Spending on single-family residential construction was reported to rise 1.05 percent while spending on improvements was up 2.00 percent.
The value of total private residential construction put in place in February was reported to be $928.9 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This figure, which includes spending on both new construction and on improvements, was reported to be up $11.83 billion month-over-month. However, January’s figure was revised lower by $15.65 billion. Residential construction spending in February was reported to be up 1.6 percent year-over-year.
Multifamily construction spending lower
The value of new private construction of multifamily residential buildings put in place in February was reported to be $116.2 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was down $40 million from the revised (-$720 million) level for January. The reported value of multifamily housing construction put in place in February was 11.6 percent lower than the level of February 2024.
The first chart shows the difference between the levels of multifamily construction put in place reported for the last two months and the levels reported this month. All three recent reports show downward trends in the dollar values of multifamily housing put in place, although the decline in this month’s data was marginal. In addition, all revisions to the data have been to the downside. For example, December’s initial report of $119.4 billion in completions was revised down to $117.8 billion in last month’s report and to $116.9 billion in this month’s report.
For reference, the Census Bureau’s New Residential Construction report said the number of unit completions in buildings with 5 or more units fell in February from the elevated level it reached in January. February completions were down 20.7 percent from the level of the month before. Completions were down 15.8 percent from their year-earlier level.
Governments were reported to have put $11.7 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 $440.2 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up $4.57 billion from the revised (+$4.36 billion) level for January but was down 0.05 percent year-over-year.
The value of improvements to residential buildings put in place in February was reported to be $372.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up $7.30 billion from the revised (-$19.29 billion) level for January and was up $30.30 billion from the year-earlier level. The Census Bureau does not separate out improvements for single-family and multifamily residential buildings.
Looking long-term
The following chart shows the value of residential construction put in place each month since January 2017. It also shows the trend line for single-family and multifamily residential construction based on growth in construction volume during the period from January 2012 to July 2018.
The chart shows that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place has been trending lower, but the chart indicates a recent reduction in the rate of decline.
The value of single-family construction put in place has been rising recently, both in absolute terms and also relative to its long-term trend line.
The value of improvements put in place has been moving sharply higher or lower month to month. However, it has remained at a high level for the past year.
The report from the Census Bureau also includes information on spending on other types of construction projects. The full current report can be found here.
