Nonresidential Construction Starts Rise 13.3% in May, Up 0.2% Year-to-Date
Cincinnati, Ohio, June 26, 2024—ConstructConnect, a leading provider of software solutions for the preconstruction industry, announced today that the May 2024 volume of Total Nonresidential construction starts — the sum of Nonresidential Building and Heavy Engineering — was $58.8 billion, an increase of $8.9 billion, or 17.9%, versus April’s $49.9 billion.
Year-to-date, Nonresidential Building construction starts totaled $144.1 billion, down 8.4% from the comparable period a year ago.
Other highlights from the report include:
- May starts of $58.8 billion exceed the $51.9 billion monthly average of nonresidential work over the past 24 months.
- Across subcategories, spending performance in the year-to-date versus the same period a year ago has varied significantly.
- Among the top 5 largest categories, May’s best performer was Prisons, thanks to the $3 billion start of a new detention facility in New York.
- Airports, May’s second-best performer, exceeded $4.4 billion and more than 350 projects.
- Underperforming categories in May included Electric Power Infrastructure, Warehouses, Hospital/Clinic, and Military.
Senior Economist Michael Guckes adds perspective on the outlook for renovation work, writing, “The strength of this movement is evident in ConstructConnect’s recent starts data: nonresidential renovation work increased by 33.1% in the two years ending 2023 and is projected to see further gains through 2028.”
On the eve of his retirement, Chief Economist Alex Carrick reflects on a long career in a column Semi-Parting Words.
The full report can be found in The Construction Economy Snapshot.
About ConstructConnect
Construction Starts Here™ at ConstructConnect, where our mission is to help the construction industry start every project on a solid foundation. A leading provider of software solutions for the preconstruction industry, ConstructConnect empowers commercial construction firms to streamline their workflows and maximize productivity. ConstructConnect operates as a business unit of Roper Technologies (Nasdaq: ROP), a constituent of the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Fortune 1000.
