Led by California and Texas, twenty states account for more than 75% of the US construction market. The projected recovery in the construction market early next year must be driven by a significant improvement in a large share of these key states. A pickup in construction activity in the thirty smaller states would not be sufficient to set off a national market recovery, says Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.

The housing market improved abruptly in July with another large gain in August. However, most of the reported 4.2% August gain was due to a sharp downward revision of July remodeling spending. This is implausible and may well be revised away shortly as several similar huge month to move changes in this market have been, says Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.

Houston and Dallas account for 26% of single family housing starts in the twenty largest metro housing markets, reports Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.

This chart features U.S. Housing Permits per 1,000 population based on the latest 12 months and residential permits for cities ranked 301-361.

This chart features U.S. Housing Permits per 1,000 population based on the latest 12 months and residential permits for cities ranked 201-300.