flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

FMI’s Construction Outlook: Third Quarter 2011 Report

FMI’s Construction Outlook: Third Quarter 2011 Report


October 12, 2011
FMIs latest forecast for construction put in place calls for 2% growth in 2011 and 6% for 2012 to $886.2 billion in total const

 

FMI, the largest provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, announces the release of the Construction Outlook: Third Quarter 2011 Report.

Overall, in FMI’s latest forecast for construction put in place calls for 2% growth in 2011 and 6% for 2012 to $886.2 billion in total construction. In today’s economy that sounds like ambitious growth, but in constant 2006 dollars, that is only 3% growth for 2012 and a 1% drop in construction for 2011. To put it in perspective, in 2012 we will nearly return to 2003 levels of construction in current dollars.

Despite geo-political upheavals and constant debates about debt levels in the U.S. and Europe, budget brinksmanship in Congress, as well as a rash of natural disasters, construction markets are inching along. U.S. GDP is slow at 1.3%, but positive. Some of the unemployment problem is due to increased productivity in manufacturing and other service businesses, but, so far, there doesn’t seem to be much innovation and investment in new markets and jobs. Both consumers and businesses are rebuilding their savings and confidence in the economy, but that is a slow process with numerous setbacks. It seems that the largest barrier to moving the economy forward is fear that no one has a plan that will work. After the go-go years of high finance and exuberant housing markets, we now have high-risk aversion, and not without good reasons.

In the midst of these extremes, the inchworm economy is struggling along, and it will take some time to revive an industry the size of U.S. construction. There are positive signs to build on, for instance, if businesses with record profits now held in reserve decide that they can make more with their money by investing in new R&D, plants, equipment and personnel, then a new construction boom could follow. On the other hand, as economists like to say, if fear and risk aversion win out, those looking for a second dip of recession could find their wishes come true.

Hard-hit residential markets will start to improve, especially multi-family construction, which is becoming more desirable as banks continue to tighten financing requirements and homeowners are still reeling from the fears of foreclosure. Lodging, office and commercial construction will continue to struggle until more Americans have good jobs. BD+C

Related Stories

Healthcare Facilities | Feb 11, 2015

Primer: Using 'parallel estimating' to pinpoint costs on healthcare construction projects

As pressure increases to understand capital cost prior to the first spade touching dirt, more healthcare owners are turning to advanced estimating processes, like parallel estimating, to improve understanding of exposure, writes CBRE Healthcare's Andrew Sumner.

Transportation & Parking Facilities | Feb 11, 2015

11 of the nation’s best ‘Complete Streets’ policies of 2014

Austin, Texas, and Troy, N.Y., are among the cities with the strongest safe streets policies, according to a new report.

Sponsored | Roofing | Feb 11, 2015

New school blends with local architecture using Petersen metal roof

Perkins Eastman in Stamford, Conn., designed the school to emphasize and integrate the International Baccalaureate curriculum throughout.

Mixed-Use | Feb 11, 2015

Developer plans to turn Eero Saarinen's Bell Labs HQ into New Urbanist town center

Designed by Eero Saarinen in the late 1950s, the two-million-sf, steel-and-glass building was one of the best-funded and successful corporate research laboratories in the world.

Architects | Feb 11, 2015

Shortlist for 2015 Mies van der Rohe Award announced

Copenhagen, Berlin, and Rotterdam are the cities where most of the shortlisted works have been built. 

BIM and Information Technology | Feb 10, 2015

Google's 3D scanning camera leaves the lab

Google is said to be partnering with LG to create a version of the technology for public release sometime this year.

Steel Buildings | Feb 10, 2015

Korean researchers discover 'super steel'

The new alloy makes steel as strong as titanium.

Architects | Feb 9, 2015

The generalist architect vs. the specialist architect

The corporate world today quite often insists on hiring specialists, but the generalists have an intrinsic quality to adapt to new horizons or even cultural shifts in the market, writes SRG Partnership's Gary Harris.

Museums | Feb 9, 2015

Herzog & de Meuron's M+ museum begins construction in Hong Kong

When completed, M+ will be one of the first buildings in the Foster + Partners-planned West Kowloon Cultural District.

Multifamily Housing | Feb 9, 2015

GSEs and their lenders were active on the multifamily front in 2014

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitized more than $57 billion for 850,000-plus units.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Student Housing

The University of Michigan addresses a decades-long student housing shortage with a new housing-dining facility

The University of Michigan has faced a decades-long shortage of on-campus student housing. In a couple of years, the situation should significantly improve with the addition of a new residential community on Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan has engaged American Campus Communities in a public-private partnership to lead the development of the environmentally sustainable living-learning student community.



Adaptive Reuse

Empty mall to be converted to UCLA Research Park

UCLA recently acquired a former mall that it will convert into the UCLA Research Park that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across other disciplines. The 700,000-sf property, formerly the Westside Pavilion shopping mall, is two miles from the university’s main Westwood campus. Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.


Geothermal Technology

Rochester, Minn., plans extensive geothermal network

The city of Rochester, Minn., home of the famed Mayo Clinic, is going big on geothermal networks. The city is constructing Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) that consist of ambient pipe loops connecting multiple buildings and delivering thermal heating and cooling energy via water-source heat pumps.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021