New download: BD+C's February 2024 Market Intelligence Report

Building Design+Construction's monthly Market Intelligence Report offers a snapshot of the health of the U.S. building construction industry, including the commercial, multifamily, institutional, and industrial building sectors. This report tracks the latest metrics related to construction spending, demand for design services, contractor backlogs, and material price trends.

Data for the Market Intelligence Report is gleaned from reputable economic sources, including the American Institute of Architects, Associated Builders and Contractors, and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Here are some of the highlights from the February 2024 report: 

• Spending on vertical construction (i.e., "commercial buildings" work) is at a near all-time high, at $851.4 billion in annualized spending. However, inflation plays into this equation; building projects are more costly to plan, design, and build. 
• Multifamily continues to shine, with 11.9% YOY growth to $135.9 billion in annual spending. Economists are calling for a slowdown, but not until 2025-26. Even at that, construction spending will hover at near all-time highs. 
• Other hot sectors: manufacturing, education, healthcare, public safety, and religious.
• The 2024-25 forecast (from AIA) for key markets looks promising; only commercial/retail and office are expected to see a pullback in construction spending. Hotels, multifamily, education, and healthcare are all expected to see strong spending increases. 
• The average U.S. contractor currently has 9.1 months worth of building construction work in the pipeline, which is slightly higher for the month and on par with the previous year. 
• AIA's Architecture Billings Index has remained below 50 for the past six months, which means more firms than not are experiencing a decrease in billings. 
• Construction material prices have largely stabilized. We're not seeing the volatile swings in prices and availability experienced during the pandemic.