Earlier this month, Dodge Data offered mixed longer-term news for the construction industry, and commercial property sectors in particular. At its annual Outlook Executive Conference in Chicago, the firm predicted a 3% increase in starts for next year, bringing the total to a projected $765 billion. That's a decline from the annual increases of 11% to 13% seen between 2012 and 2015, which moderated to 5% in 2016.

Dodge projects a 2% increase in commercial building next year, following a 3% gain this year and continuing a slowdown in growth after the 21% spike experienced in '16. Additionally, Dodge said the gains won't occur across the board: although office and industrial both are expected to see further growth, store construction will remain weak, and hotel starts will continue pulling back from a peak reached last year

NEW YORK CITY—The Dodge Momentum Index, which represents the initial report on nonresidential projects in planning, rose in October after declining for the past four months, Dodge Data & Analytics said Tuesday. With the year 2000 as the benchmark of 100, the index rose 13.2% to 130.9 from the revised September reading of 115.6.

October's gain nearly erased the erosion of prior months, including the 7.9% decline posted in September. From September to October, the commercial portion of the Momentum Index advanced 16.8%, while the institutional portion grew 8.3%, according to Dodge.

On a year-over-year basis, the index is now 6.1% higher, with the commercial portion up 5.5% and the institutional portion up 6.9%. Dodge says the increase recorded for last month supports the premise that building activity has further room to grow during this cycle. Although month-to-month activity could continue to be volatile, the firms says there are enough projects in the pipeline to sustain growth into 2018.

In October, 20 projects each with a value of $100 million or more entered planning. For the commercial building sector, the leading projects were a pair of Facebook data centers in Sandston, VA, to be built near the state capital of Richmond and valued at $400 million and $200 million, respectively. The leading institutional projects were a $480-million hospital in Dallas and a $160-million hospital tower in Seattle.

Earlier this month, Dodge Data offered mixed longer-term news for the construction industry, and commercial property sectors in particular. At its annual Outlook Executive Conference in Chicago, the firm predicted a 3% increase in starts for next year, bringing the total to a projected $765 billion. That's a decline from the annual increases of 11% to 13% seen between 2012 and 2015, which moderated to 5% in 2016.

Dodge projects a 2% increase in commercial building next year, following a 3% gain this year and continuing a slowdown in growth after the 21% spike experienced in '16. Additionally, Dodge said the gains won't occur across the board: although office and industrial both are expected to see further growth, store construction will remain weak, and hotel starts will continue pulling back from a peak reached last year