US Private Residential Construction Spending Inches Higher in April

A closer look at the latest US Construction Spending Report, with a focus on private residential construction spending and additional analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that spending on private residential construction increased in April.

Spending on single-family construction crept 0.1% higher in April. This marks the twelfth consecutive monthly increase. Compared to April 2023, spending on single-family construction was 20.4% higher. April’s increase in total construction spending can be attributed to more single-family home construction and improvements, according to NAHB.

Private residential improvement spending—repair and remodeling, or R&R—increased 0.3% but was 3.5% below April 2023.

Multifamily construction spending inched 0.3% lower after declining 0.2% in March. However, the NAHB points out that spending on multifamily construction was 2.3% higher year-over-year, as a large stock of multifamily housing is under construction. Nevertheless, multifamily construction spending will decline in the quarters ahead after an elevated level of apartments under construction is completed, NAHB said.

Finally, the NAHB reports that spending on private nonresidential construction was up 8.3% from a year ago. The annual increase was mainly due to higher spending for the class of manufacturing—up $33.2 billion—followed by the power category—up $0.8 billion.