libn.com reports New York-area construction starts declined sharply in April as compared with a year ago.
There were $2.9 billion in construction starts in the New York area last month, down 59 percent from the $7.1 billion in construction starts recorded in April 2015, according to the latest report from Dodge Data & Analytics.
The amount of nonresidential construction starts dropped 64 percent in April, going from $4.1 billion in April 2015 to just $1.46 billion this year.
Residential construction starts in April also declined. There were $1.46 billion in residential building starts in April 2016, down 51 percent from the $3 billion in starts from a year ago.
For the first four months of the year, construction starts are down in both the residential sector and nonresidential sector. So far this year there has been $12.6 billion in total building starts, 23 percent less than the $16.3 billion in starts recorded in the first four months of 2015.
Nonresidential construction covers office, retail, hotels, warehouses, manufacturing, schools, healthcare, religious, government, recreational, and other buildings. Nonresidential construction also includes streets and highways, bridges, dams and reservoirs, river and harbor developments, sewage and water supply systems, missile and space facilities, power utilities and communication systems.
Single-family and multifamily housing are considered residential buildings.
The Dodge report covers New York City, northern New Jersey, Hudson, Putnam, Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties and parts of Pennsylvania.
By: David Winzelberg
