Private residential construction spending increased slightly in February. According to the National Association of Home Builders’ Eye On Housing blog, private residential construction spending rose 1.3% in February, recovering from a 1.2% decline in January. The increase was mainly driven by higher spending on single-family construction, where spending increased by 1% in February. That's consistent with the increase in single-family housing starts in February.

However, single-family construction spending remained 0.1% lower than a year ago. Meanwhile, improvement spending rose by 2% in February and was 8.9% higher compared to the same period last year. In contrast, multifamily construction spending stayed flat in February, extending the downward trend that began in December 2023. Compared to a year ago, multifamily construction spending was down 11.6%. Read more