www.enr.com/articles/11939-in-north-carolina-residential-the-only-bright-spot-for-january

In North Carolina, Residential the Only Bright Spot for January

March 2, 2012

The residential construction category was the only sector in North Carolina to record positive gains in January, compared to a year ago, according to recent data from McGraw-Hill Construction.

The company estimated that the state’s housing sector recorded more than $439.9 million in new construction contracts during the month, for a 12% gain over the same period of a year ago.

The news wasn’t good for the other two construction sectors, however. North Carolina’s nonresidential market fell an estimated 59% compared to last January, for a total of $191.4 million in new contracts. The nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure contracts, fell 26% and delivered nearly $120.7 million in new projects.

Overall, North Carolina’s January contracts totaled just over $752 million, or 27% behind the same period of a year ago.

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.