New construction in Houston down by over 50%

Preliminary data for Feb ’09

Wendy Natt, Mar 24, 09.

From a March 20 Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) email update on McGraw Hill data for new construction in the region:

“Based on a preliminary tally for February ’09 and a revised tally for February ’08, the value of contracts for the construction of new buildings in the Houston metro area declined more than half, to $611 million, according to data published today by McGraw Hill Construction. A similar decrease shows up in the totals for the first two months, with contracts this year valued at just over $1 billion.

“As those who follow this series are aware, the McGraw Hill numbers are far more useful to indicate what happened a year ago than what’s going on now. The year-earlier figures nearly always include an upward revision - often a substantial one. The nonresidential figure for February ’08, for example, is more than twice the preliminary figure published a year ago. Our picture of early ’08 now shows a steady decline in residential construction and continued moderate gains in nonresidential construction.”

See GHP’s complete list of figures for Houston’s key economic indicators.