Private Residential Construction Spending Gains Reported in June

Further analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Construction Spending data for June, provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), show that total private residential construction spending rose 1.1% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $763.4 billion. Total private residential construction spending was 29.3% higher than a year ago. The NAHB credits the monthly gains to the strong growth in spending on single-family construction and improvements. Single-family construction spending rose to a $411.8 billion annual pace in June, up by 1% over the May estimates. It increased by 51.9% on a year-over-year basis. This is line with the steady readings of single-family housing starts. Spending on improvements edged up 0.4% in June, after a -0.6% dip in May. Multifamily construction spending slipped -0.1% to a $99.1 billion annual pace in June but was 19.7% higher than a year ago. After a slowdown in the second half of 2019, new multifamily construction spending has picked up the pace and continues even today.