Report: Commercial, multifamily construction starts rise in 2016
Photo: iStock.com/JohnnyH5
Most of the leading U.S. metropolitan areas for commercial and multifamily construction starts showed significant gains in 2016 compared to 2015, reports Dodge Data & Analytics.
According to Dodge Data & Analytics, eight of the top 10 metropolitan areas registered double-digit gains during 2016. Despite this, New York City, the top metropolitan market by dollar amount, fell 15 percent to $29.8 billion following its 67 percent surge in 2015. In addition, commercial and multifamily construction starts in 2016 were reported at $186.3 billion, up 7 percent from 2015.
The top five metropolitan areas in 2016, with their percent change from 2015, also include Los Angeles at $9.8 billion, up 44 percent; Chicago at $8.3 billion, up 34 percent; Washington, D.C. at $8.1 billion, up 35 percent; and Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, at $8 billion, up 16 percent.
The commercial and multifamily total is comprised of office buildings, stores, hotels, warehouses, commercial garages and multifamily housing. At the U.S. level, the 7 percent increase for the commercial and multifamily total in 2016 was the result of an 11 percent advance in commercial building and a 3 percent gain for multifamily housing, Dodge Data & Analytics reports.
The 15 percent decline in commercial and multifamily construction starts for New York City was mainly due to a 28 percent slide by multifamily housing after its 53 percent increase in 2015, Dodge Data & Analytics adds. This coincides with the commercial building categories as a group, which grew 4 percent, following the 95 percent surge in 2015.
“What stands out about 2016 is that growth for commercial and multifamily construction starts became broader geographically,” says Robert Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. “Back in 2015, the New York metropolitan area led the upturn by soaring 67 percent, while the next nine markets combined grew 8 percent. In 2016, the 15 percent downturn in the New York market was countered by a 33 percent hike for the next nine markets. As a result, the New York share of the U.S. total for commercial and multifamily construction starts settled back from 20 percent in 2015 to 16 percent in 2016, which was still relatively high compared to the 13 percent share during the 2010-14 period.”
Murray also touched on the noted improvements in most of the top metropolitan areas.
“Both commercial building and multifamily housing have benefited from a number of positive factors in recent years,” Murray adds. “These included declining vacancies, rising rents, low interest rates and some easing of bank lending standards for commercial real estate loans.”
About the Author: Allison Kral
Allison Kral is the former senior digital media manager for North Coast Media (NCM). She completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University where she received a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She works across a number of digital platforms, which include creating e-newsletters, writing articles and posting across social media sites. She also creates content for NCM's Portable Plants magazine, GPS World magazine and Geospatial Solutions. Her understanding of the ever-changing digital media world allows her to quickly grasp what a target audience desires and create content that is appealing and relevant for any client across any platform.Subscribe to Pit & Quarry
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