Residential Construction Spending Fell 5.5% in September as New Home Builds Held Flat

Residential construction spending fell 5.5% in September, the steepest monthly drop in the current housing cycle, and the surprising part is what did not fall. New single-family and multifamily put-in-place were essentially flat for the month. The entire decline came from the remodeling and improvement side of the ledger, the bucket that had been the quiet support under residential investment while rates climbed.

The Census Bureau, in its monthly value of construction put in place report released November 2, put total construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,186.1 billion, down 1.9% from a revised August and 2.7% below a year earlier. The residential piece did the damage. Resid…