Commercial and multifamily construction starts in the top 20 US metro areas fell to $111.1 billion in 2020, a freefall of about 23% in value, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. More broadly, national starts in those sectors took a 20% tumble to $193.4 billion. The total consists of office buildings, stores, hotels, warehouses, commercial garages, and multifamily housing and does not include institutional building projects.

Among the largest US metros, New York City saw a 25% decline year-over-year but remained the largest market for commercial and multifamily starts at $23.5 billion.  The Washington, D.C., metro suffered an identical decline, with starts at $8.9 billion, followed by Los Angeles, which fell 21% to $7.4 billion.

Nonresidential construction will likely remain in recession this year, after construction spending ended an epic run of expansion last spring.  Total starts fell 10% to $766.3 billion in 2020, and nonresidential starts posted the lowest level since 2015, as GlobeSt previously reported.