June 4, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Private residential construction spending climbed higher in April as spending for both single-family housing and multi-family housing posted solid gains during the month according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Spending for private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $256.1 billion in April, up 2.8 percent from a revised estimate of $249.1 billion in March.
Total monthly spending by builders for both residential and non-residential private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $549.7 billion, up from the revised estimate of $543.4 billion in March.
The estimate for private residential construction spending in March was revised upward almost $5.0 billion, turning March’s reported 0.7 percent increase into a 2.7 percent increase, while the estimate for all private construction, which had been reported as a 0.7 percent increase, was revised upward by $11.5 billion, resulting in a 2.9 percent increase in March.
Builders spent 7.5 percent more on private residential construction in April than they did a year ago when $238.3 billion was spent, while the total amount builders spent for all private construction was 12.5 percent higher than the $488.4 billion spent in April of last year.
Construction spending for new private single-family homes increased 2.8 percent from March to April with builders spending a seasonally adjusted $119.4 billion in April. The estimate for March was revised upward from $112.6 billion to $117.4 billion.
Single-family home construction spending was 13.1 percent higher than in April of 2011, when builders spent $105.6 billion on building new single-family homes.
Multi-family private construction spending was 4.1 percent higher than in March, climbing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $18.0 billion. The estimate for March was revised upward from $17.1 billion to $17.3 billion.
Multi-family construction spending was 31.4 percent higher than in April of last year, when builders spent a seasonally adjusted $13.7 billion on multi-family dwellings.
The remainder of the private residential construction spending in April, $118.7 billion, was money spent for any type of construction to an existing structure ranging from remodeling to additions to swimming pools to replacement of major systems such as HVAC systems. This was an increase from an upwardly revised $114.4 billion in March and a slight decline from the $119.0 billion spent in April of 2011.
Tags: residential construction spending, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, seasonally adjusted annual rate, remodeling, additions
Source:
Census Bureau
