Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released their July read of construction spending revising last months results and likely providing more speculation of a bottom to the housing decline as single family construction spending shows the now familiar bounce.Still, it’s a bit early to definitively declare the low for the single family construction spending series as more data and more revisions are required especially as we enter the fall.
On a more sour note, non-residential construction spending clearly looks as though it’s following the lead of the residential declining at the fastest annual rate seen since the declines seen during the dot-com era bust.
Total residential construction spending fell 27.76% as compared to July 2008 and a whopping 63.70% from the peak set in March 2006.
Private single family residential construction spending which declined 45.47% as compared to July 2008 and a truly grotesque 78.27% from the peak set in February 2006.
Non-residential construction spending, currently accounting for just under half of all private construction spending, posted another year-over-year decline of 8.34%.
The following charts (click for larger versions) show private residential construction spending, private residential single family construction spending and private non-residential construction spending broken out and plotted since 1993 along with the year-over-year and peak percent change to each since 1994 and 2000 – 2005.
