USA construction starts fall 9% in November

The number of new USA construction starts in November fell by 9% month-on-month, with total construction down 28% on November 2008, according to a report by McGraw-Hill Construction

Although USA housing construction levels remained largely unchanged in November from October, the residential building rate remained 11% under the monthly average for 2008, with the lowest decrease - 6% - witnessed in the multi-family housing sector.

Overall, residential construction fell 34% compared to the same period in 2008, with single-family housing down 26% and multi-family housing down 58%.

Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, said: “Single-family housing is no longer exerting a downward pull and the federal stimulus has to this point supported greater construction of highways, bridges and other public projects.

“At the same time, the negatives of weak employment, tight bank lending, and diminished state fiscal health continue to depress most of the non-residential building structure types as well as multifamily housing.”

Residential building output may improve in 2010 if the USA property market has, as expected, started to bottom.