Miami metro area’s residential construction spending spiked in April: report

Spending on residential construction projects in the greater South Florida area during April increased 88 percent year-over-year, according to McGraw Hill Construction projections based on contracts signed for upcoming projects. The report looks at construction spending for the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach.

Compared to April 2012, spending for building one- and two-family houses and apartments went from $159.8 million to $299.76 million. Nonresidential buildings – which include commercial, manufacturing, educational, religious, administrative, recreational, hotel and dormitory uses, among others – saw a rise of 6 percent, from $225.7 million to $238.7 million in spending, according to the report.

Total building spending year-over-year for April rose 40 percent, from $385.5 million to $538.47 million, McGraw Hill said.

For the year-to-date on a cumulative basis, residential building spending grew 45 percent, from $756 million to nearly $1.1 billion. As for nonresidential projects, spending dropped slightly, by 1 percent. It went from $749.2 million to $744 million.

According to McGraw Hill’s research and analytics unit, total building on a cumulative basis year-over-year rose 22 percent, from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion. —Mark Maurer