New York area’s future construction contracts fall 15%

The value of contracts for future construction in the metropolitan area fell 15 percent in December compared with a year earlier as residential activity dropped.

Dodge Data & Analytics, an industry information service, reported Thursday that contracts worth $3.6 billion for future building were awarded last month for a 23-county region centered on New York City that includes Long Island. That’s a decline from December 2015, when new building contracts totaled $4.2 billion.

Residential contracts totaled $1.7 billion, down 42 percent year over year.

Nonresidential contracts for commercial properties such as offices, hotels, factories and warehouses rose 48 percent to $1.8 billion.