Contracts for future construction up in July in metro area

The value of contracts for future construction in the metropolitan area rose 17 percent in July compared with a year earlier, as both nonresidential and residential activity increased.

Dodge Data & Analytics, an industry information service, reported this week that contracts worth $2.9 billion for future building were awarded last month for a 23-county region centered on New York City that includes Long Island. That’s up from $2.5 billion in July 2016.

Last month, nonresidential contracts for commercial properties such as offices, hotels, factories and warehouses climbed 33 percent to $1.4 billion, year over year.

Residential contracts totaled $1.4 billion, a gain of 4 percent from July 2016.