By Joe Bousquin | Construction DiveDive Brief:
- Total construction starts closed 2022 on a winning streak, rebounding in December from the previous month to post a 27% gain for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.185 trillion. That’s the first monthly year-end jump since 2017, according to Dodge Construction Network.
- The sector was led by nonresidential building starts, which grew to $549.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, a 51% jump from November. Nonbuilding construction, which includes infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges as well as utilities and pipelines, was also up 30%, at $281.4 billion, while residential construction starts were flat.
- For all of 2022, total construction starts were 15% higher than a year earlier. Nonresidential buildings – think commercial properties and plants – gained 38% year over year, while the nonbuilding sector posted a 19% rise. Residential starts, hammered by higher mortgage rates, were down 3% for the year.