There has been a lot of talk about what 2008 will bring in terms of construction spending. From the chatter I've heard, the response has been reluctant to positive about the upcoming year. On the high end, I have not seen anyone calling for a record year and I don't think anyone in their right mind would expect this. On the flip side, the good news is that I've yet to hear anyone calling for doom and gloom (As a note, I must say I am generally speaking towards non-residential construction as is the focus of this website).
I spoke with Ed Sullivan, Chief Economist for the Portland Cement Association at the 2008 World of Concrete and he is more on the reluctant side of the fence. Overall for the concrete industry, he believes the residential side of the industry will still be down with a possible turn-around in sight. He also sees some hot non-residential segments for 2008 such as the hotel industry.
Speaking of a more positive outlook is Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors. He notes that employment and spending in non-residential continues to rise despite a slowdown in other construction markets.
So what's going to happen? I can't say for sure. The buzz has continually gotten louder about the industry finally hitting a decline. Yet I've seen spending on non-residential construction continually buck predictions of decline over the past few months and there are strong indicators that public construction and other non-residential segments will continue to stay strong. I'm going to stay on the positive side of this discussion and expect the industry to continue to prosper.
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