NY metro area construction contracts plunge for fourth month

The value of contracts for future construction in the metropolitan area plunged 51 percent in July compared with a year earlier, according to a new report.

Dodge Data & Analytics, an industry information service, reported Thursday that contracts worth $2.3 billion for all future building were awarded in July in the 23-county region that includes Long Island, down from $4.7 billion in July 2015.

Residential contracts totaled $1.3 billion, a 54 percent drop year over year.

Nonresidential contracts for commercial properties such as offices, hotels, factories and warehouses, fell 46 percent to $963 million.

July was the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in the value of building contracts in the metropolitan region.