July 22, 2026
June Construction Starts Fall Nearly 20%
Still, Southern data center megaprojects fueled growth alongside NYC high-rise residential.
Construction starts pulled back sharply in June, falling 19.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.42 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. But the headline number tells only part of the story. May's tally had been inflated by a wave of outsized nonbuilding megaprojects, and June's retreat looks less like collapsing demand and more like a return to a more typical baseline.
Nonbuilding starts, still up more than a third for the year, absorbed the steepest monthly decline, while nonresidential building slipped modestly and residential construction held nearly steady. Zoom out to the year to date, and the picture brightens considerably: total starts remain up 11.1% through the first half of 2026, with commercial, industrial and nonbuilding activity all posting strong gains even as residential and institutional construction continue to struggle. Here are highlights from this month's Dodge Construction Network construction starts report:
Total Starts Change
Annual Rate
YTD Performance
Market Analysis
"After strong megaproject activity in May, construction starts came back down to earth throughout the month of June. Residential and institutional construction remain weak, while commercial, industrial and nonbuilding construction continue to show strong year to date growth."
Sector Performance Highlights
Strong Growth Sectors
- Parking Garages (+29.5% m/m): Led commercial gains within nonresidential
- Warehouses (+15.0% m/m): Continued industrial strength
- Other Institutional (+32.9% m/m): Drove institutional's monthly uptick
- Miscellaneous Nonbuilding (+168.3% m/m): Sharpest gain across all categories
- Environmental Public Works (+26.3% m/m): Rebounded within nonbuilding
Declining Sectors
- Manufacturing (-62.9% m/m): Normalized after May's surge
- Utilities (-70.3% m/m): Steep pullback after triple digit May gains
- Highway and Bridge (-46.6% m/m): Retreated from prior month's strength
- Healthcare Facilities (-29.9% m/m): Led institutional weakness
- Single Family (-3.4% m/m): Continued modest softening
Year-to-Date Performance (Through June 2026)
12 Month Performance (Jun 2025 vs Jun 2026)
Largest Projects Breaking Ground in June
Regional Performance (Month over Month)
June's steep pullback owes more to arithmetic than to a change in underlying conditions. May's totals were lifted by a cluster of outsized nonbuilding megaprojects, and the absence of that same activity in June produced an outsized month over month decline, particularly within utilities and highway and bridge starts. Nonresidential building told a more measured story, with commercial gains in parking, warehouses and hotels partly offsetting a normalization in manufacturing after its own May surge.
Residential construction remains the softest spot in the market, with single family starts continuing to retreat even as multifamily holds its ground. With year to date figures still pointing to broad based growth across commercial, industrial and nonbuilding categories, June looks less like a turning point and more like a pause after an unusually front loaded spring.
Data Source: Dodge Construction Network
Construction starts are presented as seasonally adjusted annual rates to account for normal seasonal variations in building activity.
