Dodge Data & Analytics, New York, has reported construction starts rose 19% in March after climbing 6% in February, reaching a three-month high.
“Construction starts activity has yet to see the impact of tightening financial conditions in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks,” said Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Construction Network. “Several large manufacturing projects are breaking ground, pushing nonresidential buildings higher, while a nascent recovery in single family starts has been supporting residential growth. Construction starts began the year with gusto, but that is likely to erode as the year progresses, as seen by the declining trend in the Dodge Momentum Index, which tracks projects entering the earliest stages of planning.”
Nonresidential building construction rose 33% in March as manufacturing starts more than doubled. Commercial starts increased 28% and institutional starts climbed 11%.
Residential building construction rose 5% in March. Single-family housing increased 4%, and multifamily starts climbed 8%.
Nonbuilding construction rose 17% in March.
For the 12 months ending March 2023, total construction starts were up 11% compared with the 12 months ending March 2022. Nonresidential building rose 33%; nonbuilding construction grew 21%; and residential building dropped 11%.
