Dive Brief:
-
Builders started 16% fewer projects in December than the month before, Dodge Data & Analytics reported on Friday.
-
Overall, construction starts for 2014 increased 7% over the year before.
-
Residential builders logged a 3% surge in combined single-family and multifamily starts in December.
Dive Insight:
Analysts attribute much of the overall monthly decline to unusually high activity in November, when several enormous commercial projects broke ground, pumping that month’s numbers to an unsustainable level.