RALEIGH, N.C., (April 5, 2013) – FMI, the largest provider of management consulting and investment banking services* to the engineering and construction industry released today its Q1-2013 Construction Outlook. Although the strength of individual markets is shifting, the forecast for total construction-put-in-place for 2013 continues to show an increase of 8% over 2012 levels. The $918,897 million estimate is a solid improvement, but FMI does not expect to return to the days of annual construction above the trillion-dollar mark until 2015.
The star of the show is residential buildings with a 23% rise in single-family buildings. While much of business sector is still in wait-and-see mode, some industries are breaking the mold and planning for growth. Commercial, lodging and office construction are starting to pick up.
The rich shale regions of the country are seeing a lot of construction activity. With oil and gas exploration booming, these regions are in need of housing, as well as the construction of roads, rail and pipelines to move the product from the fields to refining and distribution sites.
In addition, the potential for greater energy independence and lower energy prices is helping to make the U.S. more competitive in the global market and enticing more manufacturing to relocate in the U.S.
Residential Construction — Single-family housing put in place grew 19% in 2012, and FMI expects another 23% growth to reach $161 billion by the end of 2013. Multifamily construction improved a whopping 47% in 2012, with FMI looking for another 31% in 2013.
Nonresidential Construction Trends and Forecasts by Sector:
Lodging — After three years of steep declines, the market for lodging construction came back a strong 25% in 2012 and FMI expects another 10% growth in construction put in place for 2013.
Office — Office construction is finally showing a solid but slow turnaround with 5% growth in 2012 and another 5% increase expected in 2013.
Commercial — Commercial construction is the third largest nonresidential construction market behind education construction and manufacturing construction. That is why it is good to see that it continues into its third year of good growth, moving up 8% in 2012 and looking for another 7% to reach $50.3 billion in 2013.
Health care — Health care construction was moderate in 2012, growing only 3%, but FMI expects it to pick up in 2013 to 8% to $44.2 billion construction put in place for the year.
Manufacturing — Manufacturing construction increased 17% in 2012. It will continue with another 6% increase for 2013 through 2014.
Power-related — Construction for the power market grew 9% in 2012 and will continue to grow between 8% and 9% through 2017.
Related Stories
| Apr 5, 2011
Top 10 Buildings: Women in Architecture
Making selections of top buildings this week led to a surprising discovery about the representation of women in architecture, writes Tom Mallory, COO and co-founder, OpenBuildings.com. He discovered that finding female-created architecture, when excluding husband/wife teams, is extremely difficult and often the only work he came across was akin to interior design.
| Apr 5, 2011
What do Chengdu, Lagos, and Chicago have in common?
They’re all “world middleweight cities” that are likely to become regional megacities (10 million people) by 2025—along with Dongguan, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Wuhan (China); Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Jakarta (Indonesia); Lahore (Pakistan); and Chennai (India), according to a new report from McKinsey Global Institute: “Urban World: Mapping the economic power of cities”.
| Mar 30, 2011
China's low-carbon future city
In 2005, the Chinese government announced its target to reduce energy consumption per GDP unit by 20% by the year 2010. After a multi-billion investment, that target has been reached. The Chinese Climate Protection Program’s goal to increase energy efficiency, develop renewable energies, and promote energy savings while reducing pollutant emissions and strengthening environmental protection is reflected in the “Future City” by SBA Design.
| Mar 30, 2011
Is the AEC industry at risk of losing its next generation leaders without better mentoring?
After two or three horrifying years for the AEC industry, we are finally seeing the makings of a turnaround. However, data developed by Kermit Baker as part of the AIA Work-on-the-Boards survey program indicates that between 17% and 22% of design firms are eliminating positions for interns and staff with less than six years of experience. This data suggests the industry is at risk of losing a large segment of its next generation of leaders if something isn't done to improve mentoring across the profession.
