Turner Construction Company announced that the First Quarter 2010 Turner Building Cost Index, which measures non-residential building construction costs in the United States, has decreased by 0.5% from the Fourth Quarter 2009 and decreased 7.74% from the First Quarter 2009. Construction costs have decreased by 13.06 % since their peak at the end of 2008. The Turner Building Cost Index value for First Quarter 2010 is 799.
Karl F. Almstead, the Turner vice president responsible for the Turner Building Cost Index said, “The rate of decline in construction costs is not as dramatic as it was in 2009. The reduced volume of work remains the driving force behind the market’s downward pressure on costs in the non-residential building construction sector.
“While there are signs of recovery in the economy, the construction industry trails the broader economy due to the time required for project planning and design. As the economic recovery strengthens, increased activity in project planning will provide an indication that the rebound in the construction industry is underway,” said Almstead.
Turner has prepared the construction cost forecast for more than 80 years. Used widely by the construction industry and Federal and State governments, the building costs and price trends tracked by The Turner Building Cost Index may or may not reflect regional conditions in any given quarter. The Cost Index is determined by several factors considered on a nationwide basis, including labor rates and productivity, material prices and the competitive condition of the marketplace.
Very scary. We quoted Almstead and ENR back in October when the year over year drop was 10.8% as a sharp and prolonged declined in construction costs unparalleled since the Great Depression. Scary that it has dropped even further since then!!