Housing Bubble
Construction spending falls again
June 02, 2003
Construction put in place during April 2003 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $862.6 billion, 0.3 (+/-4.8) percent below the revised March estimate of $864.8 billion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The April figure is 0.7 (+/-4.8) percent above April 2002.
The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 4.73 percent, with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from last week’s average of 4.73 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.22 percent. This figure ties last week’s record low.
During the first 4 months of this year $249.6 billion of construction was put in place, 0.9 (+/-4.8) percent above the $247.4 billion for the same period in 2002.
In constant (1996) dollars, the April annual rate was $686.1 billion, 0.3 (+/-4.8) percent below the revised estimate of $688.4 billion for March.
Private construction
Spending on new residential housing units was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $325.6 billion in April, 0.5 (+/-1.6) percent below the revised March estimate of $327.3 billion. Nonresidential building construction was at a rate of $156.1 billion, 2.6 (+/-3.1) percent below the revised March estimate of $160.3 billion.
Public construction
In April, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction put in place was $201.2 billion, 0.2 (+/-4.8) percent above the revised March estimate of $200.7 billion.
VALUE OF CONSTRUCTION PUT IN PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES, SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ANNUAL RATE (BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)
Type of construction Apr(p) Mar(r) Feb(r) Jan Dec Apr
2003 2003 2003 2003 2002 2002
Current dollars
Total construction........ 862.6 864.8 873.5 875.3 856.7 856.9
Private construction(1)......... 661.4 664.1 666.5 664.3 650.0 656.7
Residential buildings(2)...... 449.9 451.4 452.2 450.0 440.2 411.8
New housing units........... 325.6 327.3 327.1 327.0 314.7 295.6
1 unit ................... 290.8 293.1 291.5 291.2 282.0 260.5
2 units or more........... 34.7 34.2 35.6 35.8 32.7 35.1
Nonresidential buildings...... 156.1 160.3 159.8 160.8 155.6 179.6
Industrial.................. 13.3 14.3 13.7 14.2 14.0 17.5
Office...................... 31.4 33.9 33.7 33.9 34.5 40.8
Hotels, motels.............. 9.8 9.8 9.4 9.7 8.8 11.3
Other commercial............ 53.9 54.5 55.1 56.0 51.7 61.4
Religious................... 8.1 8.3 8.4 8.3 7.9 8.9
Educational................. 13.7 13.9 13.4 13.5 13.8 14.5
Hospital and institutional.. 18.8 18.4 18.6 17.9 17.7 16.5
Miscellaneous buildings..... 7.1 7.2 7.6 7.4 7.4 8.5
Telecommunications............ (NA) 15.0 14.4 14.4 16.7 17.4
All other private............. 2.2 2.2 1.9 2.2 2.0 3.4
Public construction............. 201.2 200.7 207.0 211.0 206.7 200.2
Housing and redevelopment..... 6.0 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.5 5.1
Industrial.................... 1.9 1.9 1.8 2.2 1.8 2.1
Educational................... 62.4 63.7 63.4 66.5 63.4 62.8
Hospital...................... 4.7 5.2 5.5 4.9 5.2 4.8
Other public buildings........ 28.8 29.1 30.6 30.6 29.4 30.6
Highways and streets.......... 54.3 53.7 56.2 56.4 56.7 51.5
Military facilities........... 3.0 2.8 3.2 3.2 3.4 2.7
Conservation and development.. 8.6 8.1 8.1 8.3 8.2 7.9
Sewer systems................. 9.2 8.9 9.6 9.3 9.1 9.2
Water supply facilities....... 7.6 7.8 8.3 8.1 7.5 7.1
Miscellaneous public.......... 14.6 13.9 14.6 15.7 16.5 16.4
1996 dollars
Total construction........ 686.1 688.4 695.3 699.7 691.4 706.6
Private construction(1)......... 523.2 525.7 527.4 528.4 522.3 540.6
Residential buildings(2)...... 350.7 352.1 352.4 353.2 349.4 336.2
New housing units........... 253.8 255.3 255.0 256.6 249.8 241.3
1 unit ................... 226.7 228.6 227.2 228.6 223.8 212.7
2 units or more........... 27.1 26.7 27.7 28.1 25.9 28.7
Nonresidential buildings...... 124.5 128.1 127.7 128.9 125.5 147.2
Industrial.................. 10.6 11.4 10.9 11.3 11.3 14.4
Office...................... 25.1 27.1 26.9 27.2 27.8 33.4
Hotels, motels.............. 7.8 7.8 7.5 7.7 7.1 9.2
Other commercial............ 43.0 43.6 44.0 44.9 41.7 50.3
Religious................... 6.4 6.6 6.7 6.6 6.4 7.3
Educational................. 10.9 11.1 10.7 10.8 11.1 11.9
Hospital and institutional.. 15.0 14.7 14.8 14.3 14.3 13.5
Miscellaneous buildings..... 5.7 5.8 6.1 5.9 5.9 7.0
Telecommunications............ (NA) 13.7 13.2 13.2 15.5 16.2
All other private............. 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.7 2.9
Public construction............. 162.9 162.7 167.9 171.3 169.1 166.0
Housing and redevelopment..... 4.7 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.2
Industrial.................... 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.8 1.5 1.7
Educational................... 49.8 50.9 50.6 53.3 51.2 51.5
Hospital...................... 3.8 4.1 4.4 3.9 4.2 4.0
Other public buildings........ 23.0 23.3 24.4 24.5 23.7 25.1
Highways and streets.......... 44.1 43.7 45.8 45.8 46.4 42.3
Military facilities........... 2.4 2.3 2.6 2.6 2.8 2.2
Conservation and development.. 7.3 6.9 6.9 7.1 7.0 7.0
Sewer systems................. 7.9 7.6 8.2 7.9 7.8 8.1
Water supply facilities....... 6.3 6.5 6.9 6.8 6.3 6.0
Miscellaneous public.......... 12.1 11.5 12.1 13.1 13.9 14.0
(NA) Not available. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised.
(1) Includes the following categories of private construction not shown separately: residential improvements, railroads, electric light and power, gas, petroleum pipelines, and farm nonresidential.
(2) Includes improvements.
Source: US Census Bureau
