Construction Industry to Remain Flat, Confidence Index at Halfway Mark

While many real estate experts feel that the market is on a rebound, those in the construction sector feel the industry’s recession will continue till mid-2013, according to a survey published by McGraw-Hill Construction in Engineering News-Record magazine.

The survey also showed that a strong revival will be possible in 2013 only if Mitt Romney is elected as President. Of the 378 executives polled, 269 said Romney was the better choice if the construction industry is to have a bright future.

Meanwhile, 14.8 percent said Barack Obama would be better and another 14 percent remained undecided, a press release said.

One of reasons for Obama’s unpopularity was because he “was anti-business, interfering with overall growth in the economy.” However, many executives said that the public sector would see more work under Obama, while the private sector, which is considered the healthiest, would flourish under Romney.

Some of the sectors considered strongest are petroleum, power, health care and multi-unit residential, while entertainment, cultural, commercial office, retail and K-12 education markets are still in recession, the survey showed.

Meanwhile, the market sentiment is not bright regarding the future of the construction industry. "The Q3-2012 Construction Industry Confidence Index, which measures industry sentiment for market sectors and trends, is 50 on a scale of 100, where a value of 50 indicates a stable market, with the higher the value above 50 reflecting the wider the belief in an expanding market. This quarter's figure indicates a belief that the construction market remains flat at a low level," Gary Tulacz, senior editor, ENR, said in a press statement.

"This is down from the Q1-2012 CICI rating of 58 from last April, where survey respondents believed the market was poised for recovery," he added.

Constrained public sector spending will is one of the major concerns plaguing those in the construction sector. And they believe the traditional public sector markers such as transportation, water and sewer will not make any significant recovery until after the presidential election.