August 19, 2014
By Neal Tepel, LaborPress Special Report 
The residential building and construction sector is estimated to increase by 50 percent in 2014 according to the Building Congress. Residential construction spending is expected to reach $10.2 billion in 2014, up from a previous record high of $6.8 billion in 2013. This forecasted record-setting number comes just four years after a post-recession low of $2.4 billion in 2010 residential spending.
If the Building Congress forecast holds, residential spending will account for 32 percent of all construction spending in New York City this year. The next best showing in recent memory occurred in 2005, when residential accounted for 25 percent of all spending. In the post-recession year of 2010, residential spending accounted for approximately 8 percent of all construction.
The Building Congress estimates that 20,000 new dwelling units will be produced in 2014, a 9 percent increase from 2013, when 18,378 units were built. While the recent level of new unit production is far above the amounts produced after the 2008 recession, it remains significantly below the more than 30,000 units that were constructed annually between 2005 and 2008.
“The recent breakthrough in residential construction spending has produced thousands of new construction industry jobs while generating increased economic activity and tax revenues for the City,” said Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson.
Construction employment is expected to reach 122,700 in 2014, up 1.5 percent from 2013, when 120,900 jobs were produced. The current number remains well below the peak of 132,600 jobs reached in 2008.
