Publication Date: 23-OCT-08

Pages: 36

Format: PDF

Price: $495.00

To receive the 25% Association discount, please enter the promotion code in your shopping cart.

Description

Just Released on October 23, 2008 - The McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook 2009.

The McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook 2009 Report is perfect for design, construction and professional services firms planning for 2009 and beyond.

The 2009 Construction Outlook is the industry's highly respected and most closely watched outlook for the year ahead. With unprecedented headlines coming at us daily, if not hourly, this year's report promises to be even more critical to our business decisions moving forward than any past year in recent memory.

Authored by Robert Murray, McGraw-Hill Constructions' vice president of economic affairs, the Construction Outlook offers detailed analysis about what lies ahead for the residential, commercial, institutional, manufacturing, and public works and utilities sectors, by region and nationally. Never has it been more important to take advantage of these insights to ensure that you possess the most credible and comprehensive information as you plan for the year ahead.

The Outlook 2009 Report will include detailed forecasts and tables by building types:
• Residential
• Commercial Buildings
• Institutional Buildings
• Manufacturing Buildings
• Public Works and Utilities

Construction Outlook 2009 Report Excerpts:

The upheaval in the financial markets during September and October of 2008 has presented the construction industry with its most difficult environment since the early 1990s. With the beginning of the credit crunch a year ago, there was the sense that with each new wave of crisis, the situation could go from bad to worse, as financial institutions absorbed the mounting losses from mortgage-backed securities. The extent to which conditions deteriorated in September, and the actions taken by the federal government to stem the crisis, were startling in their speed and scope.

Funding from public sources has supported construction activity in recent years, but that picture is becoming more mixed. With regard to money coming from the federal government, fiscal 2008 appropriations showed continued emphasis on transportation work. The federal aid highway program was increased 5% to $41.1 billion, including $1 billion to upgrade bridges. The mass transit account received a 5% hike to $9.5 billion, and airport improvement grants were held steady at $3.5 billion. The environmental accounts include a few increases, such as a 3% gain for EPA Superfund, but the EPA water infrastructure account was lowered 7%, including a 35% cut to state clean water revolving funds. Military construction continued to receive support - the base realignment and closure account was raised 29%, and funding for other military construction was lifted 30%.

• The U.S. economy has clearly slowed in 2008, as reflected in nine straight months of job losses. While the GDP statistics held up fairly well during the first half of the year, growth is likely to turn negative in the third and fourth quarters. For 2008 as a whole, economic growth is projected to be 1.6%, followed by just 1.0% expansion in 2009.

• The turmoil in the financial markets, accompanied by credit markets freezing up, is the major near term risk facing the construction industry. The steps taken to restore liquidity are expected to have some beneficial impact, but only gradually.

• The financial turmoil is adversely affecting the fiscal health of states and localities, making it more difficult to raise short-term debt to manage cash flow, as well as increasing the cost of bond financing.

Complete 2009 National and Regional Estimates will also be included and the Construction Outlook 2009 Report will include over 25 charts and graphs.