Despite slowdown, SoFla ranks No. 2 for construction spending in 2015 

Despite slowdown, SoFla ranks No. 2 for construction spending in 2015

The end of 2015 saw a serious slowdown in South Florida construction spending, but that didn’t stop developers from putting more money into building here than almost anywhere else in the nation last year.

A total of $6.3 billion was put into South Florida construction contracts by the end of the year, according to a new Dodge Data & Analytics report. That means the region was No. 2 for construction spending in 2015, outpacing No. 3 — Dallas, Texas — by $300 million. New York ranked at the top.

Although there was a veritable outpouring of development dollars in South Florida last year, the contracts started to dry up by year’s end. A lot of that was thanks to the residential market, which took a heavy hit for construction contracts awarded during the winter months.

December, for instance, saw a 3 percent reduction in spending year-over-year. That’s coming off of an overheated spring where residential spending was growing by double-digit percentages compared to 2014.

The tri-county area in 2014 saw an explosion of building, both on the residential and commercial sides of the market. Multifamily projects in particular had a 121 percent increase in building than in 2013, while commercial building as a whole was up 51 percent.

Now, South Florida is facing headwinds from economic troubles abroad in regions like South America — a major feeder market for buyers of local real estate. Home sales took a hit at the end of the year, and analysts say poor global economic conditions could have a chilling effect on new industrial construction.

“The construction start statistics do show some deceleration for the commercial building sector at the national level during 2015, after the

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