Nonbuilding
Nonbuilding construction starts rose 19% from June to July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $298 billion. All sectors increased during the month, with utility/gas starts rebounding from a weak June and more than doubling in July. Highway and bridge starts rose 11%, environmental public works gained 8%, and miscellaneous nonbuilding starts were 1% higher. On a year-to-date basis through July total nonbuilding starts were flat from a year ago. Environmental public works starts were 12% higher, miscellaneous nonbuilding starts rose 5%, highway and bridge starts were 3% higher, but utility/gas starts were down 16% through July.
For the 12 months ending July 2024, total nonbuilding starts were 5% higher than the 12 months ending July 2023. Utility/gas starts were up 10%, environmental public works starts improved 6%, while highway and bridge starts and miscellaneous nonbuilding starts were each 2% higher for the 12 months ending July 2024.
The largest nonbuilding projects to break ground in July were the $1.5 billion Revolution Wind offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, the $819 million Potomac River Tunnel in Washington, DC, and the $800 million Ryan Field Stadium at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Nonresidential
Nonresidential building starts improved 25% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $445 billion. Manufacturing starts improved 33%, while commercial starts rose 30% due to increases in data center and hotel starts. Institutional starts gained 18% in July mostly due to a sharp increase in healthcare starts. On a year-to-date basis through July, total nonresidential starts were up 5%. Institutional starts were 13% higher, while commercial starts were up 3%, and manufacturing starts were 12% lower on a year-to-date basis through July.
For the 12 months ending July 2024, nonresidential building starts were 1% lower than the previous 12 months. Manufacturing starts were down 19% and commercial starts were down 5%, while institutional starts were 10% higher for the 12 months ending July 2024.
The largest nonresidential building projects to break ground in July were the $2.1 billion Novo Nordisk plant in Clayton, North Carolina, the $1.6 billion first phase of the AWS Amazon data center in Canton, Mississippi, and the $800 million Meta data center in Montgomery, Alabama.
Residential
Residential building starts lost 8% in July, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $365 billion. Single family starts shed 13% in the month, while multifamily starts rose 3%. On a year-to-date basis through seven months, total residential starts were 11% higher. Single family starts improved 22% and multifamily starts were 8% lower on a year-to-date basis.
For the 12 months ending July 2024, residential starts were 7% higher than the previous 12 months. Single family starts were 17% higher, while multifamily starts were 9% lower on a 12-month rolling sum basis.
The largest multifamily structures to break ground in July were the $300 million Music Row Albion apartment towers in Nashville, Tennessee, the $254 million Commodore Perry apartments in Buffalo, New York, and the $250 million One Tampa condominiums in Tampa, Florida.
Regionally, total construction starts in July rose in all regions.