Texas & Southeast

North Carolina's Nonresidential Slump Continues in April

A 41% drop in the value of new nonresidential contracts pulled down North Carolina’s April total for new projects by 13% overall, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. In all, the company estimated the Tar Heel State delivered nearly $851.4 million in new contracts during the month.

The nonresidential sector was the leading culprit for the state’s April decline. Its 41% drop resulted in nearly $196.8 million in new work, compared to the $335.4 million reported a year ago.

North Carolina’s nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure projects, also declined, by 4%, and tallied roughly $170.4 million. Residential contracts picked up the pace slightly, improving by 3% to total $484.2 million.

Despite the April decline, North Carolina’s year-to-date total for 2012 remains positive. So far this year, McGraw-Hill Construction estimates the state’s contracts at nearly $4.3 billion, or 7% ahead of 2011’s early pace.

Here again, the state’s nonresidential market is proving to be a drag on overall activity. Through April, McGraw-Hill estimates this category has delivered nearly $1.2 billion in new contracts, or 14% below the volume recorded a year ago.

Residential work has generated nearly $2.2 billion in new work, or 22% better than last year. The company estimates the nonbuilding category at $878.2 million through April, or 10% ahead of 2011’s pace.

Scott Judy is ENR’s Managing Editor. His roughly 34 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint visiting and writing about construction projects in the Midwest region of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Then, in 2000, Judy helped launch ENR Southeast, now known as ENR Texas & Southeast. After all these years, Judy says his favorite part of being an ENR editor is visiting job sites and learning how—and reporting on—a team’s approach to overcoming the project’s design and construction challenges. And Judy says he never turns down an invitation for a project visit.