2015 shaping up to be a disappointing year for new construction in Houston

Residential construction spending in the Houston area was down 22 percent year-over-year in May, and so far in 2015 is only 1 percent ahead of where it was last year.

Those were the two big stats from the latest Dodge Data & Analytics report, a monthly look at residential construction activity in the nation’s largest metro areas.

Houston Agent assembled a series of graphs on Dodge Data’s findings. Below is total residential construction spending in May:

At $717 million, Houston’s new construction is still far ahead of most areas in raw size.

Relatively speaking, though, 2015 has been a big step back for Houston, something it’s year-over-year numbers show:

Year-over-year construction can vary wildly from month to month, so it’s not the most reliable measurement of an area’s market; however, even by year-to-date numbers – which smooth over that volatility and offer a more accurate view of an area’s construction market – Houston’s market is underwhelming in 2015:

Houston Agent has reported on numerous occasions about how falling oil prices would impact the area’s housing market, and Dodge Data’s numbers clearly show that with the price of oil falling, new construction has taken a step back.