Based on annual rates, residential construction will account for more than 35 percent of all U.S. construction spending this year.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, residential construction reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $383.3 billion in August, an increase of 1.3 percent from the July estimate of $378.5 billion. Total U.S. construction during August was estimated at an annual rate of $1,086.2 billion.
Other figures from the bureau show that single-family starts reached a seasonally adjusted rate of 739,000 during August, with the number of housing units authorized by building permits in hitting a rate of 699,000 — a 2.8 percent increase from July.
“Permit growth indicates that our members feel confident that consumers are returning to the market,” said Tom Woods, chairman for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
A recently released housing market index from NAHB found that builders’ confidence in the newly constructed single-family housing market is the highest it’s been since October 2005.
This confidence is partially fueled by the uptick in new home sales. According to the Census Bureau, new homes in August were at an annual rate of 552,000. This is 5.7 percent above the revised July rate of 522,000 and is 21.6 percent above the August 2014 estimate of 454,000.
Despite this confidence, Woods noted that builders are reporting concerns with lot and labor availability.
During the first eight months of this year, total construction spending amounted to $683.4 billion in the U.S. This figure is 9.8 percent during the same period in 2014.
