Dodge Momentum Index Declines in July

The Dodge Momentum Index continues to decline after peaking in July 2018. The Index, released earlier this week by Dodge Data & Analytics, slipped 4.6% in July from the revised June reading. The index measures the first report of nonresidential building projects in the planning phase, resulting in an indication of nonresidential spending for a full year.

Much of the decline is due to a more than 10% drop in institutional building, while the commercial building segment only fell 0.3% in July. Year-over-year, the Index was down 11.6%—commercial segment down 17.4%. The decline has been sharp over the past year but has leveled off since late 2018, down only 1.2% from December.

With that said, there were still 13 projects that entered planning in July that were valued at $100 million or more. Among them were a $370 million warehouse in Alaska and a $290 million mall redevelopment in North Carolina on the commercial side. A $230 million hospital in New Mexico and a $200 million hospital in Florida led the institutional projects.

-Michael Miller, managing editor