Piggy-backing off my blog yesterday about the relationship between job growth and commercial real estate activity, Becky Hurley of the Gazette, has written another article entitled, “Colorado Springs leads state for construction employment.”
Regarding construction projects out of 337 metropolitan areas of the United States, only four areas have shown growth according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
While Colorado Springs ranked highest among cities in Colorado regarding construction employment, still – its number ranking is No. 216 out of 337.
Colorado Springs Realtors who practice commercial real estate can expect some challenges for the next few years.
According to Ken Simonson, who is the chief economist for the Census Bureau, “The impact of the stimulus is clearly being overshadowed by the sweeping downturn in overall construction demand.”
Plainly speaking, publicly funded construction increased by 1% between December 2008 and 2009, while the federal stimulus boosted highway and street construction by 3.7% nationwide, which was the largest percentage of construction growth. Basically, every other area of construction projects have fell dramatically across the country.
As a Colorado Springs Realtor, I do see some silver lining under the clouds. Last year, Grand Junction was the fastest growing city in the state of Colorado despite its under performance in new construction employment. It’s simply a reminder we’re experiencing different trends than many of us have seen before. I believe sustainability is the key to success during these ever-changing economic times.
