Resources: Economics

Destination hotel boom not over... yet - 4/1/2008
The hotel market continues to be the fastest growing commercial building segment, but construction spending is slowing. The 66% annual growth rate seen at the end of December is expected to slow to an expected 31% in 2008, and then to 12% in 2009. Hotels, unlike other commercial properties, enjoyed a stronger building boom in 2004-08 than in the previous expansion cycle that ended in 2000.

Construction spending falls for 4th straight month - 3/3/2008 1:23:00 PM
Construction spending fell 1.7% in January, the fourth straight monthly drop.

Selling Green in the Spec Office Market - 3/1/2008
When Kansas City-based Zimmer Real Estate Services put the finishing touches on its LEED-certified EcoWorks at Southlake Park office building in Lenexa, Kan., more than six years ago, the developer slapped a premium-Class A price tag on leases in the 124,000-sf building and waited for prospective tenants to get in line to sign up.

AEC, environmental consulting, still strong in U.S. - 2/5/2008 8:42:00 AM
After reaching near-record levels in the first three quarters of 2007, and averting most of the negative sentiment that plagued the broader economy, market values of architecture, engineering, construction, and environmental consulting firms (AEC/E) finally slowed to a 5% pace at year-end. The ZweigWhite 15 (ZW15), a market-weighted index designed to track the performance of publicly-traded AEC/E firms in the U.S., ticked up 55 points in the fourth quarter to close at $1,309.61 for the year.

Despite credit crunch, commercial architecture billings up again - 12/31/2007 10:58:00 AM
Following a rebound in October, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) continued up more than two points in November. An economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI shows an approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the November ABI rating was 55.3, up from 53.2 in October (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings), and inquiries for new projects was 56.6.

Office boom past its peak, but still up - 12/4/2007 9:22:00 AM
The surge in office development is ebbing, but office construction spending will expand 12% in both 2008 and 2009, on top of 19% gains experienced in the previous two years.

Office boom past its peak, but still up - 12/1/2007
The surge in office development is ebbing, but office construction spending will expand 12% in both 2008 and 2009, on top of 19% gains experienced in the previous two years. While the value of office construction starts is up 27% year-to-date through October, monthly starts during the last four months have fallen below the late 2006/early 2007 peak.

Hotel construction to remain steady in 2008 - 12/1/2007
The completion of new hotel rooms caught up with demand in 2007, bringing an end to a five-year rise in occupancy rates of about 60-67%, slowing room rate increases from 6-8% to about 3-4%, and reducing prospective investment returns from buying or building a hotel, although hotel investments are still relatively attractive to real estate investors.

Why California schools cost so much - 10/25/2007 9:38:00 AM
A group of more than 20 representatives from California’s government, education, legal, design, and construction communities recently authored a 27-page report detailing why construction costs are so high for K-12 facilities and community colleges in California.

Architecture Billings Index Reaches Near Record Level - 8/22/2007 8:45:00 AM
Up slightly from the 59.3 mark in June, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) in July reached the second highest mark since the survey’s inception in 1995. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI shows an approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending.