Bleak news coming out of the AIA in its semiannual Consensus Construction Forecast: Nonresidential construction spending is expected to decrease by 16 percent in 2009 and drop by another 12 percent in 2010. “While there are some indications that the overall economy is beginning to recover, nonresidential construction activity typically lags behind the rest of the economy,” said the group’s chief economist, Kermit Baker, in a press release.
Spending in the office sector is projected to drop 17 percent next year, while industrial-sector construction is expected to shrink 28 percent in 2010. However, construction in the public safety and education sectors is forecasted to drop only seven-tenths of a percent, and healthcare only eight-tenths of a percent, as those markets are buoyed by stimulus funds.
The full report can be found in the July 10 edition of AIArchitect.