Year end 2023 U.S. Census construction data and the traditional building market.

Last month’s Building Tradition podcast interviews with AIA’s chief economist Kermit Baker and NAHB’s economist Danushka Nanayakkara gave us a look ahead at the 2024 state of our industry. Now, the U.S. Census reports year-end 2023 construction spending totals which look better than everyone expected a year ago. (Census)

According to U.S. Census data the total annual value of private construction put in place was up +4.7% year-over-year. Residential construction in 2023 was -5.8% below 2022. Non-residential construction for 2023 was +21.9% above 2022.

What’s not reported in Census figures clearly, is the annual value of construction for restoration/renovation/rehabilitation, an estimated fifty percent of the market, according to Kermit Baker of AIA. What is reported by the U.S. Census year-end 2023 numbers confirms what Dr. Baker told me: the manufacturing building segment is up Y-O-Y 70%; healthcare is up 14.9%; and education is up 13.4%.

NAHB’s economist Danushka Nanayakkara’s forecast for the year-end 2023 reiterates the U.S. Census data which shows a -5.6% decline in the value of residential construction put in place year-over-year. Census does not break out single-family custom housing, but NAHB tells us that it is 20% of the total single-family construction market.

Where does our traditional building market fit in with all of this? We define traditional building as residential, commercial, and institutional work, both restoration/renovation and new period construction (contextual infill and new old houses). We estimate that this work accounts for at least 20% of the total value of construction put in place. This includes the adaptive use of historic buildings, restoration/renovation of existing traditional buildings (typically 1800-1964) and new period homes.

Who works in the traditional building market? You do! Here is a pie chart which shows the composition of the audience our media serves.

What kind of work do you do? All kinds. Here is a pie chart which shows the percentage of the traditional building audience who do this kind of work. Most do more than one kind of building type work.

Traditional building work often requires many hands, from architects and preservation consultants to general contractors and specialty contractors, building artisans and conservators. This is why our audience composition is multi-disciplined.

The traditional building professionals who engage with the TRADITIONAL BUILDING, PERIOD HOMES and the Traditional Building Conference Series media platform (print, digital, social, conference, podcast, online education) are part of a 570,000 constituency. Let’s stay in touch!