April 2025 Nonresidential Construction Starts were $63.1 billion, a 9.9% increase over March, and the first time that monthly starts surpassed $60 billion this year.
According to Chief Economist Michael Guckes, megaprojects were a major driver, contributing over $15 billion to April’s total.
Widespread gains in civil construction and key nonresidential building categories helped reduce the year-to-date decline in overall nonresidential spending to just 0.5%.
ConstructConnect announced today that the April 2025 volume of Total Nonresidential Construction Starts — the sum of Nonresidential Building and Civil Construction — was $63.1 billion, an increase of $6.7 billion, or 9.9%, compared to March’s revised reading of $57.4 billion.
Monthly Nonresidential Starts exceeded $60 billion for the first time in 2025. Ten megaprojects contributed over $15 billion to the month’s total starts spending.
Chief Economist Michael Guckes said, “Consecutive months of strong megaproject activity has now lifted the monthly average spending on megaprojects to $9.9 billion, up from $8.4 billion in February.”
ConstructConnect Chief Economist, Michael Guckes
There were seven commercial or institutional megaprojects in April, providing a much-needed boost to nonresidential building activity, Guckes reported.
The April results included five commercial projects worth a collective $7.9 billion and two institutional projects worth $2.8 billion.
Many subcategories within Civil construction continue to report strong gains year-to-date (YTD), including Airports, Electric Power Infrastructure, Dam/Marine, and Bridges.
Additionally, thanks to April’s strong results, Guckes said several nonresidential building categories are now positive YTD. These include Sports Stadiums/Convention Centers, Private Offices (including Data Centers), Nursing/Assisted Living, and Colleges and Universities.
Nonresidential spending improved substantially based on revised March data and solid April results.
March’s original YTD nonresidential starts were reported down 9.6%, yet the revised figure now puts that decline at just 6.7%.
Guckes said that April’s nonresidential reading then lifted YTD spending further, allowing for a mere 0.5% contraction.
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