Construction spending during June 2023 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,938.4 billion, 0.5 percent above the upward revised May estimate of $1,929.6 billion. The June figure is 3.5 percent above the June 2022 estimate of $1,873.2 billion. During the first six months of this year, construction spending amounted to $917.4 billion, a modest 3.0 percent above the $890.4 billion for the same period in 2022. 

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Construction spending in May was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,925.6 billion, a notable 0.9 percent above the slightly revised April estimate of $1,909.0 billion. The May figure is 2.4 percent above the May 2022 estimate of $1,880.9 billion. During the first five months of this year, construction spending amounted to $740.8 billion, 2.9 percent above the $719.6 billion for the same period in 2022.   READ MORE HERE....

The Reason Foundation’s 2023 Annual Privatization Report: Transportation Finance indicates that for the second year in a row, global infrastructure investment funds rose to a record amount: $149 billion in 2022. Those funds invested just under $150 billion, 48% into brand new (greenfield) facilities, 23% into infrastructure mergers & acquisitions, 15% into refinancing, 9% into taking publicly traded entities private, and 4% on ‘other.’ Overall, these funds had $820 billion in assets under management at year-end and another $380 billion worth of dry powder—funds raised but not yet invested in any kind of project.

Also, for the second year in a row, transportation was the largest infrastructure sector these funds invested in, at 72% of the total. Of this total expenditure in 2022, the largest share of transportation megaproject public-private partnerships (P3s) that were financed were U.S. projects, specifically John F. Kennedy International Airport New Terminal One ($8.4 billion), JFK Terminal 6 ($4.7 billion), Maryland Purple Line refinancing ($2.7 billion), and Pennsylvania Major Bridges Program ($2.3 billion), among other noteworthy projects.

A key source of the growing private equity investment funding was explained by the Annual Report as the expanding role of public employee pension systems in infrastructure investments. During 2022, with the stock market down, the median state pension system return on investment was minus 5.2%, compared with their targeted long-term return on investment of 7%. The majority of U.S. state and local public employee pension systems have significant unfunded liabilities. In sharp contrast, large Australian and Canadian public pension funds are fully funded. One of the keys to that status is several decades of careful investment in revenue-generating infrastructure, as summarized in the report. The good news on this front is the slow but steady increase in U.S. pension systems allocating sums to infrastructure investment funds which enables them to invest in a portfolio of projects anywhere in the world.

[NOTE: Reason Foundation publishes this report each year to help legislators, commentators, and journalists better understand and follow developments and trends in long-term design-build-finance-operate-maintain public-private partnership projects. There are profound differences between DBFOM projects and traditional design-bid-build and design-build projects. DBFOMs are financed mainly via private-sector equity investment and non-recourse revenue bonds, based on project-derived revenues. Where does that equity come from? From infrastructure investment funds, such as those listed and discussed in the annual report].

During April construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,908.4 billion, a jump of 1.2 percent above a large upwardly revised March estimate of $1,885.0 billion. The April figure is 7.2 percent above the April 2022 estimate of $1,780.9 billion. During the first four months of this year, construction spending amounted to $566.7 billion, 6.1 percent above the $533.9 billion for the same period in 2022.   READ MORE...

For the first time, the U.S. Census Bureau has created an interactive map of national, state and county building permit data. The recently released tool allows quick access and insight into the dynamics of permits issued for new residential construction.  The tool also provides new data for every one of the 3,143 U.S. counties and shows how many single family, multi-family, and total housing units were authorized in each.

The information allows users to follow changes over the past few years and to drill down to more exhaustive data and specific geographic areas.

For more details go to: Census Bureau Unveils Unique, Interactive Building Permit Tool

The U.S. Census Bureau announced the following value “put in place” construction statistics for March 2023: Total Construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,834.7 billion, 0.3 percent above an unusual downward revised February estimate of $1,829.6 billion. The March figure is 3.8 percent above the March 2022 estimate of $1,768.2 billion. During the first three months of this year, construction spending amounted to $403.3 billion, 4.3 percent (less than the general inflation rate), but still above the $386.7 billion for the same period in 2022.  Read more....

Construction spending during February 2023 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,844.1 billion, 0.1 percent below the upwardly revised January estimate of $1,845.4 billion. The February figure is 5.2 percent above the February 2022 estimate of $1,753.1 billion. During the first two months of this year, construction spending amounted to $260.8 billion, 5.9 percent above the $246.1 billion for the same period in 2022.

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Construction spending during January 2023 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,825.7 billion, 0.1 percent below the upwardly revised December estimate of $1,827.5 billion. However, the January “year-over-year” figure is 5.7 percent above the January 2022 estimate of $1,726.6 billion. Private sector spending outperformed the public sector, which was off from its December ’22 levels.

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Construction spending during December 2022 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,809.8 billion, 0.4 percent below the upward revised November estimate of $1,817.3 billion. The December figure is 7.7 percent above the December 2021 estimate of $1,681.0 billion. The value of construction in 2022 was $1,792.9 billion, a strong 10.2 percent above the $1,626.4 billion spent in 2021, but well within inflationary impacts.

Private Construction
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,427.1 billion, 0.4 percent below the revised November estimate of $1,432.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $857.2 billion in December, 0.3 percent below the revised November estimate of $860.0 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $570.0 billion in December, 0.5 percent below the revised November estimate of $572.9 billion.   READ MORE.....

Construction spending during November 2022 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,807.5 billion, 0.2 percent above the upward revised October estimate of $1,803.2 billion. The November figure is 8.5 percent above the November 2021 estimate of $1,665.2 billion. Over the last month public sector spending continued to rise (especially with the new fiscal budget in only its second month), while the residential sector has seen a steady decline. During the first eleven months of this year, construction spending amounted to $1,657.6 billion, 10.5 percent above the $1,499.8 billion for the same period in 2021.  Read more HERE

Construction Put in Place Historical Charts HERE