As the nation tentatively continues forward with recovery—whether it be a full turnaround or the first part of an unwanted "W" trend—the construction sector continues to try and rid itself of a laundry list of laments. Building permits ticked upward in August at a seasonally adjusted rate of 579,000, a 2.7% increase over July, but were still more than 32% below the same period in 2008. Housing starts also increased slightly in August over July by 1.5%, but completions were again down 5.5% and both figures were more than 25% below the numbers seen at this time last year.
From the federal government's perspective, the industry is heading in the right direction as housing permits are up 16% from a low in April, which is good news after a plummet of 78% between September 2005 and April 2009.
Unfortunately, many local governments are anticipating further declines in property values and commercial construction, further pilfering their already barren budgets.
Though construction is searching for solid footing in its effort to rebound, faced with the challenge that commercially available credit has been decimated in the sector as real estate loan delinquencies are at record highs, the overall trend for construction costs remains negative. Compared to the high costs of August 2008...
http://www.nacm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=88&Itemid=200#6
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