JLL’s US Construction Outlook provides analysis on US Construction market trends, including an overview of macro-economic indicators to assess the current state of the construction industry as well as a look at leading indicators to gauge future sentiment regarding the direction of the construction industry.
The construction industry today is in a vastly different state than it was one year ago. Despite a lagging recovery, the construction industry managed to withstand systemic shocks to the U.S. economy and build off of positive momentum in certain sectors during late 2012 into 2013. The resurgence of the U.S. housing market is helping to propel construction activity and employment into positive territory, while more modest improvement in other areas such as the office market and opportunistic plays in sectors such as healthcare are helping to establish a future platform for growth. The construction industry itself is finally adding jobs, and the value of nonresidential construction put-in-place is, with the exception of a couple sectors, growing. Commercial lending sentiment continues to show confidence and liquidity is increasing.
The story, of course, is not all rosy. There are significant challenges ahead including the inevitable changing of monetary policy, the outcome of Obamacare, the resolutions of the government shutdown and the debt ceiling—not to mention the Federal budget deficit. Still, the construction industry is in a better position this year to grow against these potential obstacles. Though the slow, punctuated growth in the construction industry during 2012 and 2013 may have left more to be desired, what it has done for the construction industry is provide a wide and stable platform to more successfully weather macroeconomic shakeups ahead. This report will highlight the strides and setbacks the construction industry has encountered during the last year, and shed some light on themes and opportunities for the industry going forward.
The report examines numerous areas, including:
- Econommic overview
- Commercial lending sentiment
- Cost of construction
- Green building: What the advent of building codes and LEED v4 means for tomorrow’s sustainability targets
- Alternative project delivery: Using P3’s to help avoid an infrastructure collapse
- Today’s labor market: The risks and rewards of recovery
- First responders: Rebuilding following a natural disaster
- A look at Office, Industrial and Retail Markets
- Outlook for next year
