South Florida October construction starts drop, year-over-year

October construction starts in South Florida rose from September, but lagged behind amounts seen a year prior, according to a recently released report.

Total construction starts for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties fell 10 percent from October of last year to $964.3 million, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, a Hamilton, New Jersey-based construction data analytics firm.

While nonresidential construction starts jumped, they were offset by a decline in residential starts. Nonresidential construction rose 63 percent, year-over-year, to $583.41 million. Residential construction fell 46 percent to $380.9 million. Residential construction represented about 60 percent of the total building in the region.

Nonresidential construction includes office, retail, hotels, warehouses, manufacturing, educational, healthcare, religious, government, recreational, and other buildings. Residential construction includes single-family homes and multifamily housing, according to Dodge.

October total construction starts climbed about 72 percent from September. That puts October’s total above those reported for March, April, May and August.

October residential construction was up 16 percent from September. Nonresidential construction more than doubled from September.

Year to date, total October construction starts fell 27 percent, year-over-year, to $7.9 billion. Nonresidential construction starts fell 35 percent to $3.4 billion. Residential construction starts fell 20 percent to $4.5 billion.

Nationwide, total construction starts rose 12 percent, year-over-year in October. Nonresidential building increased 19 percent and residential activity gained 2 percent, according to Dodge.

Year to date through October, total nationwide construction starts fell 11 percent, compared to the same period of 2019. Nonresidential starts dropped 24 percent and residential starts decreased by 2 percent.

South Florida projects that scored construction loans in October include Coral Rock Development Group’s $53.5 million loan for the 260-unit residential portion of its mixed-use project in Hialeah.