Dive Brief:
- The Dodge Momentum Index, for the second-straight month, inched upward in June. The index rose 1.1% to 141.1 from an upward-revised May reading of 139.6, according to Dodge Data & Analytics.
- The institutional sector once again drove the uptick with a gain of 4.8%, which made up for a 1.3% loss in commercial.
- Seven commercial and institutional projects valued at more than $100 million entered the planning stages in June. Those included the $150 million Legacy Sports Complex in Glendale, AZ; the $100 million Highmark Health Cancer Facility in Pittsburgh, PA; the $300 million Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas; and a $200 million office and warehouse in American Canyon, CA.
Dive Insight:
The institutional and commercial sectors have been taking turns in pushing the Momentum Index forward each month since mid-2016. Even with last month's loss in commercial, that sector is still 11.8% above June 2016,m while institutional saw a 9.5% increase year-over-year.
Dodge said this positive trend indicates a strong second half for construction through the rest of 2017. The Momentum Index is a forward-looking indicator and predicts construction spending for the year ahead.
In its most recent construction starts report, Dodge reported a slight May rebound of 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $651.2 billion after an April plunge of 13%. Nonbuilding, which rose 23% in May, benefited from four major pipeline projects worth $3 billion and kept overall starts in positive territory despite declines in both residential and nonresidential.
The May news was a little better from ConstructConnect, which reported a 5% increase in the value of nonresidential starts for the month. This marked a significant improvement from April's dip of 7.2% but was a downward departure from the typical April-to-May bump of 8%.