The Dodge Momentum Index grew 3.6 percent in December 2017 to 153.9 from the revised November reading of 148.6, reports Dodge Data & Analytics.
In addition, the December 2017 reading for the Dodge Momentum Index was up 20.9 percent compared with the December 2016 reading.
According to Dodge Data & Analytics, December’s increase was because of an 8.6 percent jump in the institutional component of the index. The commercial component also saw a 0.7 percent gain.
In December, 12 projects, each with a value of $100 million or more, entered planning. For the institutional sector, the leading projects were a $200 million renovation of the Smithsonian Institute Visitor Center in Washington, D.C., and a $175 million Veterans Affairs Living Center in Long Beach, California. For the commercial sector, the leading projects were a $100 million hotel on Harvard University’s campus in Allston, Massachusetts, and a $100 million office building in Little Rock, Arkansas.
For the full year of 2017, the Dodge Momentum Index averaged 132.3, up 10.7 percent from the full-year average for 2016. The full year of 2017 was up 11.4 percent for the commercial sector and up 9.7 percent for the institutional sector from 2016.
The Dodge Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. Dodge Data & Analytics provides analytics and software-based workflow integration solutions for the construction industry.
