South Florida June resi construction starts up, but commercial down

Construction starts in South Florida were up in June on a year-over-year basis, but a sharp drop in commercial construction slowed down the overall growth, according to Dodge Data & Analytics.

Residential construction in South Florida leapt by 66 percent to $974 million from $586 million in June compared to June 2017. Commercial, on the other hand, plummeted 44 percent to $616 million from $1.1 billion.

Overall, construction starts fell 6 percent in June year-over-year. But year-to-date, due to the strong growth in residential construction, total building activity in South Florida rose 26 percent to $7.3 billion.

Commercial spending increased a slight 3 percent to $3.2 billion from $3.14 billion last year, according to the report. Residential construction saw the largest increase, up 53 percent to $4.1 billion from $2.67 billion, year-to-date.

Commercial construction is going through a slump, as residential continues to outpace it. In April commercial construction starts decreased 42 percent to $316.2 million, while residential construction starts increased 58 percent to $687.6 million, compared to last April.

Commercial construction includes office, retail, hotels, warehouses, manufacturing, educational, healthcare, religious, government, recreational, and other buildings, while residential includes single-family and multifamily housing, according to the report.

Construction costs are expected to continue rising across the U.S., thanks in part to President Trump’s plan to tax overseas metals. Developers have already expressed concern over the cost of materials and the construction labor shortage that’s plaguing the rest of the country.