Private Residential Construction Spending up 17 Percent From Last Year

Residential construction spending performed slightly better than construction spending as a whole in September although the entire construction sector was relatively flat.  The residential increase was present in both private and public spending in the report issued Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Total construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,094.2 billion, up 0.6 percent from August and 14.1 percent higher than a year earlier.  On a non-seasonally adjusted basis spending was $102.1 billion compared to $101.3 billion in August. Spending year-to-date in 2015 totals $786.6 billion, a 10.5 percent increase over spending through the end of September in 2014.

Spending in the private sector in September was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $794.2 billion, also a 0.6 percent increase from August and 16.0 percent from the previous September.  On a non-adjusted basis total private spending was $71.9 billion compared to $71.0 billion the month before.  Year-to-date spending was up 12.2 percent over the comparable dates in 2014.

Residential spending in the private sector gained 1.9 percent from August to an annual rate of $394.7 billion and was 17.1 percent ahead of the previous September.  Non-adjusted private residential spending for the month was $36.8 billion compared to $36.3 billion in August and year to date it was $282.3 billion.  The year-to-date figure represents an annual increase of 12.2 percent.

Single family construction spending was at an annual rate of $222.2 billion and new multi-family construction was $56.7 billion.  The single family increase was 1.3 percent for the month and 12.7 percent for the year.  The multi-family number represents a 4.9 percent gain from August and 26.7 percent from the previous September.

On a non-adjusted basis there was $20.7 billion spent on single-family construction in September and expenditures year-to-date are $160.7 billion, a 13.8 percent annual gain.  Multi-family construction spending during the month was $4.8 billion and thus far this year $38.1 billion has been spent, a 25.1 percent rise.

Total public construction rose 0.7 percent in September to $300.0 billion, 0.7 and 9.4 month-over-month and year-over-year increases.  Even though the numbers remain small, the annual rate of public sector residential spending in September, $6.6 billion, was a 1.2 percent increase from August and up 22.7 percent from a year earlier.  Public sector residential spending year-to-date is nearly 30 percent higher than at the same time last year.