Market Intelligence Update – January 2025

Recently, the U.S. Census released the results of its monthly Value of Construction Put in Place Survey. The survey provides estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done in the U.S. This data includes design and construction spending for public and private projects.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.15 trillion for November 2024 with no change from the month before. Due to revisions, this value is slightly below the May 2024 high of $2.17 trillion, although it represents an increase from the September low of $2.14 trillion.

Private construction saw an increase of 0.1% month over month while Public construction saw a slight decline of -0.1%. A bright spot has been the resilience of the Residential market, which grew 0.1% month over month while interest rates continue to remain near 30 year highs over the past 18 months.

Nominal year-over-year growth remained positive at 3.0%. This is consistent with the revised 2024 Q3 3rd estimate of real US GDP growth at 3.1% (up from 2.8%).

 

With respect to year-over-year growth in individual markets, manufacturing continues to be a top area for design & construction spending with total year to date spending of $212.6 billion. The water supply, amusement, and power markets are also maintaining robust growth in double digits.

For the sectors with the lowest levels of growth, two categories experiencing significant decline include lodging and commercial. These sectors and office are all sensitive to interest rate levels and reflect the impact borrowing costs have had on land development for these sectors. The office sector remains slightly positive due to data center growth being included in this classification.

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