Building permits back on a growth track in July. The U.S. Census Bureau said privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 943,000, 2.7% above the revised June rate of 918,000 and 12.4% above the July 2012 estimate of 839,000. Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 613,000, 1.9% below the revised June figure of 625,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 303,000 in July.
PMI hits new high for 2013 with 4.5-point gain. The closely watched Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) published monthly by the Institute for Supply Management, Tempe, Ariz. registered 55.4 percent, an increase of 4.5 percentage points from June’s reading of 50.9 percent. July’s PMI reading, the highest of the year, indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector for the second consecutive month. Any reading of 50 points or better indicates a growth environment in the purchasing arena.
ABI enjoys nice increase in July. The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) saw a jump of more than a full point in July, indicating acceleration in the growth of design activity nationally. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine- to twelve-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the July ABI score was 52.7, up from a mark of 51.6 in June. This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 66.7, up dramatically from the reading of 62.6 the previous month.
“There continues to be encouraging signs that the design and construction industry continues to improve,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker. “But we also hear about a wide mix of business conditions all over the country, ranging from outstanding and booming to slowly improving to flat. In fact, plenty of architecture firms are reporting very weak business conditions as well, so it is premature to declare the entire sector has entered an expansion phase.”