According to an Associated General Contractors of America survey, 73 percent of construction companies surveyed plan to hire new employees in 2017.
In the fourth quarter of 2016, home price gains accelerated in 89 percent of U.S. metropolitan areas, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Overall construction spending in 2016 was 4.5 percent higher than the prior year, according to the Commerce Department.
The data center and specialty REIT sectors outperformed the S&P Index’s 1.9 percent total return rate in January 2017, delivering returns of 8.05 percent and 9.42 percent respectively.
Total construction employment in January increased 2.6 percent from January 2016, or approximately 170,000 jobs year over year, the Associated General Contractors of America reported.
Cross-border transactions in the real estate industry accounted for $65.5 billion in sales—a decline of one-third from 2015 levels, but up from just $43.1 billion in 2014, according to Real Capital Analytics.
This article originally appeared in BDO USA, LLP’s “Construction Monitor Newsletter (Spring 2017). Copyright © 2017 BDO USA, LLP. All rights reserved. www.bdo.com