Dodge Data & Analytics, New York, has reported construction starts surged 21.1% in October after climbing 3.1% in September.
Nonresidential building construction rose 17.9% in October as manufacturing starts jumped 107.2%, commercial starts grew 19.5% and institutional starts advanced 3.7%.
Residential building construction fell 15.4% in October. Single-family housing increased 2.2%, and multifamily starts plunged 38.5%.
Nonbuilding construction jumped 59.4% in October.
For the 12 months ending October, total construction starts were up 8.1% compared with the 12 months ending October 2024. Nonbuilding construction rose 22.9%; nonresidential building climbed 7.5%; and residential building fell 3.1%.
“Growth in construction starts continued to be propped up by high-value megaproject activity last month,” said Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “Specifically, ten projects valued at $1 billion and over broke ground, largely within data center, manufacturing and LNG construction. Outside of these high-tech buildings, however, growth appears more moderate. In square footage terms, for example, nonresidential and residential starts declined by 4.3% over the month and are down 5.4% year-to-date through October.”
