TL:DR

BOSTON, MA — February 20, 2026 — Total construction starts expanded 0.7% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.24 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. Nonresidential building starts fell by 15.4%, residential starts decreased 6.4%, and nonbuilding starts grew 24.3% over the month.
On a year-over-year basis, total construction starts were up 5.0% from January 2025. Nonresidential starts were down 10.3%, residential starts were down 17.0% and nonbuilding starts were up by 46.1% over the same period. For the 12 months ending January 2026, total construction starts were up 6.1% from the 12 months ending January 2025. Residential starts were down 6.0%, nonresidential starts were up 5.5% and nonbuilding was up 21.0%.

“Nonbuilding construction remained the primary engine of growth in the first month of 2026,” stated Eric Gaus Chief Economist at Dodge Construction Network. “ Three mega projects in the nonbuilding sector accounted for nearly $20 billion or almost half of the growth in January, which would mean total construction would have been negative without those three projects.”

ResidentialResidential

Residential building starts fell by 6.4% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $345 billion. Single family starts increased 1.5% m/m, while multifamily starts fell by 17.8% m/m. On a year-over-year basis, residential starts are down 17.0% compared to January 2025, with single family starts down 21.5% and multifamily starts down 9.2%.

For the 12 months ending January 2026, total residential starts fell 6.0%. Single family starts fell 15.2% compared to the 12 months ending January 2025, and multifamily starts increased 13.6% over the same period.

The largest multifamily structures to break ground in January were the $335 million 38 Gramercy Park East Condominiums in New York, New York, the $265 million Lakeview Residence in West Palm Beach, Florida and the $200 million Homestead Gateway Mixed Residential Tower in Jersey City, New Jersy.

NonresidentialNonresidential

Nonresidential building starts decreased 15.4% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $378 billion. Commercial starts were down 27.3%, alongside a drop in offices and data centers (-52.2% m/m), parking garages (-6.7% m/m) and hotels (-17.4% m/m). Meanwhile, warehouses (+10.2% m/m) and retail starts (+6.5% m/m) posted an increase between December and January. Institutional starts declined 15.2%, driven by weaker education (-21.9% m/m) and miscellaneous institutional (-26.1% m/m) starts. This decline was partially offset by 10.5% m/m growth in healthcare facility starts. Manufacturing, meanwhile, pulled up by 97.5% in January. On a year-over-year basis, nonresidential starts are down 10.3% compared to January 2025. Commercial starts are up 14.2% and institutional starts are down 29.6% over the same period.

For the 12 months ending January 2026, total nonresidential starts were up 5.5% compared to the 12 months ending January 2025. Commercial starts were up 19.4%, institutional starts decreased 4.4%, and manufacturing starts were up 3.5% over the same period.

The largest nonresidential building projects to break ground in January were the $1.2 billion New York Presbyterian Cancer Center in New York, New York, the $1 billion Amkor Semiconductor Advanced Packaging (Phase 1) in Peoria, Arizona and the $714 million QTS CLT1 Data Center (Phase 1) in York, South Carolina.

NonbuildingNonbuilding

Nonbuilding construction starts grew 24.3% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $522 billion. The category was held up solely by the electric power/utilities which soared by 184.8%. However highways and bridges (-42.3% m/m), miscellaneous nonbuilding (-31.5% m/m) and environmental public works (-5.9% m/m) faced declines.

For the 12 months ending January 2026, total nonbuilding starts were up 21.0%. Environmental public works fell by 5.3% compared to the 12 months ending January 2025. Highway and bridge starts were up 3.4%, miscellaneous nonbuilding starts were up 36.2% and utility/gas starts increased 67.9% over the same period.

The largest nonbuilding projects to break ground in January included the $12 billion Port Arthur LNG – Liquefaction Phase 2 (Trains 3 & 4) in Port Arthur, Texas, the $6 billion Homer City Energy Campus 4.4 GW in Homer City, Pennsylvania and the $1.5 billion Tehuacana Creek 1 Solar and Battery Storage project in Navarro, Texas.

Regionally, total construction starts in January rose in the Northeast (+32.0% m/m), the South Central (+9.6% m/m), and the South Atlantic (+2.2% m/m). Meanwhile, starts slowed down in the West (-21.1% m/m) and the Midwest (-12.6% m/m).

My Thoughts 💭My Thoughts 💭

Good data here but more of the same. Housing is down energy and manufacturing had a massive jump which falls in to the Trump Administration’s plans. Construction seeing growth here but I think it will be short lived.