2015 shaping up to be a big year for new construction in Atlanta

Residential construction spending in the Atlanta area in 2015 is 32 percent ahead of where it was last year.

That was the big stat from the latest Dodge Data & Analytics report, a monthly look at residential construction activity in the nation’s largest metro areas.

Atlanta Agent assembled a series of graphs on Dodge Data’s findings. Below is total residential construction spending in May:

Though trailing Dallas, Houston and a few other new construction markets, Atlanta’s $425 million was still quite strong (and far ahead of Boston, Miami and San Francisco).

Atlanta’s year-over-year growth was a bit tepid:

Year-over-year construction, however, can vary wildly from month to month, so it’s not the most reliable measurement of an area’s market.

Year-to-date numbers, by contrast, smooth over that volatility and offer a more accurate view of an area’s construction market, and it’s in that measure that Atlanta’s true colors show:

At 32 percent, Atlanta has the second-best construction growth in 2015 among large metro areas, and that growth bodes well for the market’s long-term health.