Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

St. James Plantation new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes is excited to share good news for the construction industry! McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2010 Construction Outlook forecasts an increase in construction starts in 2010, which is expected to climb 11% to $466.2 billion. RealtyTimes.com’s Peter L. Mosca recently reported on the McGraw’s Outlook, a construction and manufacturing executive’s basis for business planning. Below is an excerpt and to read Mosca’s complete article, click here.

“Highlights of the 2010 Construction Outlook include:

• Single family housing for 2010 will advance 32% in dollars, corresponding to a 30% increase in the number of units to 560,000 (McGraw-Hill Construction basis).

• Multifamily housing will improve 16% in dollars and 14% in units, after steep reductions in 2008 and 2009.

• Commercial buildings will drop 4% in dollars, following a steep 43% drop in 2009. The weak employment picture will further depress occupancies, making it even more difficult to justify new construction.

• Institutional buildings will begin to stabilize after losing momentum in 2009. Square footage will retreat another 2% after sliding 23% this year. The dollar amount of construction for this sector will edge up 1%, helped by a growing amount of energy-efficiency upgrades to federal buildings and continued strength for military buildings.

• Manufacturing buildings will drop 14% in dollars and 3% in square feet, hampered by the substantial amount of slack manufacturing capacity. • Public works construction is expected to rise 14%, given more wide-ranging strength across all project types.

• Electric utility construction will slip 3%, continuing to settle back after a record high in 2008.”