Recovery may finally be on its way to the Southeast construction industry. I mentioned that in an earlier post regarding some of the latest monthly figures from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR. 

Now, I've received the company's 2012 predictions for the Southeast. ENR Southeast will produce a more extensive "Outlook" report next week, but I thought I'd share some of the numbers with you now.

Before doing that, I'll admit, we've been down this road before. In fact, at the beginning of 2011, McGraw-Hill Construction was predicting positive growth for the Southeast, too. Now, though, I personally feel that something akin to "recovery" may actually be occurring. Major projects are starting to move forward, at least in spots. And some of the regional industry officials we're talking to about the coming construction season are sounding more upbeat than usual.

That said, here are McGraw-Hill Construction's current forecast Total Construction figures for each of the four states in 2012. The numbers reflect the value of new 2012 construction contracts.

  • Florida - MHC predicts a 9% overall improvement, for a 2012 Total Construction figure of $22.8 billion.
  • Georgia - A significant 51% jump in Total Construction predicted, for a total of $17.4 billion, compared to 2011's estimated $11.5 billion.
  • North Carolina - The lone Southeast state projected to continue to decline in 2012. MHC projects a 10% decline, for a Total Construction figure of $12 billion.
  • South Carolina - Coming off a 12% improvement in 2011, South Carolina's Total Construction should improve by another 8% in 2012, MHC says, for a $7.9-billion tally.
We'll have many more details and perspective in next week's full report. For now, though, what do you think? Do you think recovery can really take hold in 2012? Or are the forecasters wrong?

Let us hear your thoughts!