Single Family Construction Spending Picked up in December

Publicly funded expenditures continued to drag on overall construction spending numbers in December, offsetting a small uptick in private spending.  Data released by U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday shows private residential outlays remaining positive, especially for multi-family construction and with single-family construction showing some end-of-year strength.

Overall construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.2 trillion in December, a decline of 0.2 percent from November.  Analysts polled by Econoday were looking for an increase of 0.2 percent, although estimates ranged from -0.4 to 0.8 percent. 

Spending in December was up 4.2 percent compared to December 2015.  The total for 2016 through the end of December was estimated at $1.2 trillion, a 4.5 percent increase over the corresponding period in 2015.

Total privately funded construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $897.0 billion, up 0.2 percent from November's rate of $894.8 billion and a 6.3 percent gain from $844.1 billion in December 2015.  On a non-adjusted basis, an estimated $70.2 billion was spent during the month and year-to-date spending was up 6.4 percent, from 823.5 billion through the end of 2015 to $876.3 billion last year.

Residential expenditures were estimated at an annual rate of $467.0 billion in December, a 0.5 percent month-over-month gain and up 3.7 percent for the year.  The year-to-date estimate of $456.2 billion through the end of December was 5.2 percent higher than in the same period in 2015. 

Spending on single-family homes increased a scant 0.3 percent year-over-year and but it rose 0.5 percent from November to December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $250.4 billion.  This adds to a 2.6 percent combined increase in the single-family sector in October and November.   

Year-to-date spending on single-family homes is estimated at $243.0 billion, a 4.3 percent gain over spending in 2015.

Multifamily spending remains the star with a 2.8 percent gain in seasonally adjusted spending compared to November and a 11.7 percent increase from December 2015 at $63.7 billion.  Multi-family spending for 2016 through the end of December was $60.7 billion, a 16.3 percent gain from the previous year.

The big winners in non-residential private construction spending in 2016 were for commercial properties, up 29.5 percent, office construction which increased by 26.4 percent and amusement and recreation with a 22.4 percent gain.  Transportation, communication, and manufacturing construction were all down by single digit percentages from their 2015 levels.

Publicly funded spending declined by 1.7 percent for the month and 1.8 percent for the year to an annual rate of $284.5 billion.  Residential spending was down 3.8 percent and 3.4 percent from the two earlier periods at a rate of $6.3 billion. Year-to-date through December there was a decline of 1.5 percent in residential construction spending.