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"Construction spending in the commercial category, which encompasses retail space among other segments, is down nearly 12% on a year-over-year basis. Spending related to lodging, including new hotel construction, was down 0.7% for the month and is up less than 4% year over year. Spending in the power segment also decreased in August and is down 3.5% compared to the same time last year." — Building Design + Construction
A recent report from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) looking at construction activity year-over-year shows a slight increase in construction spending for the year ending in August 2019. Total construction spending rose 0.3-percent relative to the same point in 2018, resulting in... View full entry
Among the more than 16,200 condo units across 682 new buildings completed in New York City since 2013, one in four remain unsold, or roughly 4,100 apartments — most of them in luxury buildings, according to a new analysis by the listing website StreetEasy. [...]
Already the prices at several new towers have been reduced, either directly or through concessions like waived common charges and transfer taxes, and some may soon be forced to cut deeper.
— The New York Times
Despite record-breaking residential construction in New York City, sales of apartments have slowed steadily in recent years. NYT real estate reporter Stefanos Chen has analyzed the latest numbers of unsold units, especially in the higher price ranges, following a glut of inventory in newly... View full entry
According to a new report set to be released by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) measuring recent economic activity in the architecture sector, the demand for design services has fallen to a new low this summer. The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for the month of August, for... View full entry
The latest compensation survey conducted by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has found that in recent years, as demand for design services has increased and unemployment has fallen to historic lows, average pay for architecture staff has increased by over $10,000. The report credits a... View full entry
The Trump administration and lawmakers in both parties generally don’t believe the government should be running in effect two enormous financial companies. Administration officials want to shrink the government’s involvement and return housing finance to a privately run system. — The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how (and why) the Trump Administration is looking to change the federal government's role in overseeing aspects of the nation's mortgage securities market. According to WSJ, the two government-sponsored entities secure half of the nation’s... View full entry
According to The Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump is moving to escalate America's trade war with China by imposing new tariffs on all Chinese-made products imported into the country. Currently, the administration's tariff-loving trade policy has been limited mostly to... View full entry
California communities are approving residential building permits at a slower rate than they did last year, a sign Gov. Gavin Newsom faces an even bigger hurdle to reach his housing goals than when he took office in January.
In the first five months of 2019, cities and counties issued permits for an average of 111,000 residential building units per year, according to data released Friday by the California Department of Finance.
That’s a decrease of 12.2 percent from the same period in 2018.
— The Sacramento Bee
The news is mostly bad for California governor Gavin Newsom's plan to build 3.5 million new housing units by 2025, as high land costs, a labor shortage, the effects of President Trump's tax cuts, and virulent NIMBYism threaten to stamp out regulatory reforms enacted over recent years. ... View full entry
Despite recent warnings from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) of weakening billings numbers among architecture firms, the organization continues to forecast positive economic growth for the construction industry into 2020, with several caveats. According to AIA's Consensus... View full entry
The economy is headed for a slowdown, but its effect on the housing market won’t be as tumultuous as the downturn that led to the Great Recession, Metrostudy chief economist Mark Boud told a standing room-only audience today at the 2019 Metrostudy Housing Outlook Breakfast.
Boud sees overinflated housing prices causing bubbles in some hot markets where affordability is a top issue.
— Builder
In his recent talk, Metrostudy chief economist Mark Boud points out the economic indicators that will bring about the inevitable correction to the current boom cycle but does not predict a collapse of the housing market as dire as in the years following the 2008 financial crisis. "We predict that... View full entry
Even more than the laws of physics and building codes, money rules everything in architecture. The architect is the canary in the recession's coal mine; skyscrapers and starchitectural gems stand as allegories for wealth; descriptors like "quality" and "affordable" at times seem mutually... View full entry
While cities like Dallas and San Francisco have rebounded strongly since the recession, many other places are still struggling for economic growth and prosperity. As time goes on, we're seeing a divergence between successful parts of the country and the non-successful parts.
More than 50 million Americans live in "distressed" ZIP codes, according to a new report from the Economic Innovation Group, a Washington D.C. think-tank.
— Fast.Co Exist
"These areas—largely concentrated in the South, Southwest, and the Rust Belt—are suffering a "recovery gap" driven by low home investment, shuttering businesses, and poor job opportunities."According to the report, economic opportunities are intimately tethered to geography in the United... View full entry
Today's Editor's Picks is a special themed "place based" edition - highlighting content (old/newish) from the archives/site - about Denver and Colorado. Partly as an apology for the brief/unexpected lull in the Picks. Also, inspired by my own recent relocation to The Mile High City. Just one part of an ongoing attempt to learn about my new home.
While MArch students at the University of Colorado, Denver, Patrick Beseda and Lacy Williams realized a design/build project for a micro-dwelling. FOUNDhouse inspired by the WikiHouse project, was an exploration of digital fabrication, the possibilities of DIY and the democratization of... View full entry
Sean Smith published the first in a series of articles in which "three architects (two designers and one licensed architect) discuss their transition from student to professional, their changed perceptions of the career and the challenges and joys of their current work". The interview with... View full entry
For some historic preservationists on the North Shore, the economic downturn in 2008 had a silver lining, bringing a lull in tear-downs and new-home construction that gave scores of vintage properties a reprieve from the wrecking ball.
But six years later, officials in north suburban Winnetka tasked with preserving historic homes say that reprieve has clearly ended. They report that demolition permits have nearly doubled, with 36 issued in 2013, up from 19 in 2009.
— chicagotribune.com
It was billed as a chance to transform Greece's image abroad and boost growth but 10 years after the country hosted the world's greatest sporting extravaganza there is little to celebrate at the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. [...]
For Greeks who swelled with pride at the time, the Games are now a source of anger as the country struggles through a six-year depression, record unemployment, homelessness and poverty.
Greece has struggled to generate revenue from the venues.
— uk.reuters.com
