South Florida construction starts fall in August

Call it the summer slump?

Construction starts in South Florida fell 5 percent in August to $7.23 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. But like in previous months, the decline is due to huge annual and monthly drops in residential construction starts.

Year-over-year, commercial construction contracts rose 36 percent to nearly $3.8 billion from about $2.8 billion. Residential, on the other hand, fell 29 percent to $3.43 billion from $4.85 billion. Dodge Data includes multifamily development, which has been booming, in its residential category.

From July to August, non-residential construction starts increased 57 percent, from $196.4 million to $309 million. Residential starts posted a 33 percent decline to nearly $385 million from $571 million in July. Overall, construction starts fell 10 percent in August from the previous month.

The numbers make sense given the slowdown of South Florida’s preconstruction condo market. And as commercial construction ramps up, the region’s biggest general contractors have been shifting their attention to office, industrial, infrastructure and more.