No. 1146. PRICE AND COST INDEXES FOR CONSTRUCTION AND SELECTED COMPONENTS OF CONSTRUCTION: 1955 TO 1972

[Excludes Alaska and Hawaii, except as noted. Indexes of certain of these firms are published on bases different from those shown here. See Historical Statistics, Colonial Times to 1957, series N 85-102, for construction cost indexes on a 1947-49 base]

* Covers materials incorporated as integral part of a building or normally installed during construction and not readily removable. Excludes consumer durables, such as kitchen ranges, refrigerators, etc. Beginning 1965, applies to Alaska and Hawaii. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unpublished data.

Based on minimum wage rates agreed upon through collective bargaining; excludes overtime. As of July 1. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Union Wages and Hours: Building Trades, annual.

Covers both building and nonbuilding construction, excluding maintenance and repair. Represents a weighted average of various indexes used for different types of construction.

Based on average contract unit bid prices for composite mile (involving specific average amounts of excavation, paving, reinforcing steel, structural steel, and structural concrete).

Average for 30 cities of 4 types of buildings: Wood-frame, brick-wood frame, brick-steel frame, and reinforced concrete. Covers materials and labor costs in structural portion of buildings but excludes those for plumbing, heating, lighting, sprinklers, and elevators. Reflects employee-benefit costs, and allows for contractors' overhead and profit.

7 Average of 20 cities for types shown. Weights based on surveys of building costs. Wage rates used for both common and skilled labor. Reflects payment of sales taxes and social security payroll taxes. Unweighted averages from Boeckh series prepared by U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Building construction index computed on basis of hypothetical unit of construction requiring 6 bbl. of Portland cement, 1.088 M bd. ft. of 2'' x 4'' lumber, 2,500 lb. of structural steel, and 68.38 hours of skilled labor. General construction index based on same materials components combined with 200 hours of common labor.

Eastern cities. Based on firm's cost experience with respect to labor rates, materials prices, competitive conditions, efficiency of plant and management, and productivity. Reflects payment of sales taxes and employeebenefit costs.

10 Based on data covering public utility construction costs for 95 items in 6 geographic regions. Covers skilled and common labor; does not reflect tax payments nor employee-benefit costs.

As derived by U.S. Bureau of the Census; covers steam production plants only; excludes hydraulic plants. Source: Except as noted, U.S. Bureau of the Census. In U.S. Bureau of Domestic Commerce, Construction Review.

No. 1147.

Price Indexes-Value of Construction

679

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS-INDEXES OF WHOLESALE PRICES: 1960

TO 1972

[1967=100. Prior to 1965, excludes Alaska and Hawaii. For discussion of wholesale price index, see text, p. 345]

NA Not available.

1 See footnote 2, table 1146. 28d common.

Includes brass fittings. 4 Excludes refractories.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wholesale Prices and Price Indexes, monthly and annual.

No. 1148. CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS-VALUE OF CONSTRUCTION AND FLOOR SPACE OF BUILDINGS, BY CLASS OF CONSTRUCTION: 1960 TO 1972

[Value in millions of dollars; floor space in millions of square feet. Prior to 1970, excludes Alaska and Hawaii. Includes new structures and alterations to existing structures (both value and floor area), and major alterations to existing structures which affect only valuation, since there is no additional floor area created by an "alteration" project]

X Not applicable.

1 Excludes floor space of public works and utilities, data for which are not available.

* Includes nonindustrial warehouses.

Source: F. W. Dodge Division, McGraw-Hill Information Systems Company, New York, N.Y. In Dodge Construction Potentials.

FIG. XLV. NEW CONSTRUCTION-VALUE AND UNITS STARTED: 1960 TO 1972 [See tables 1138 and 1155]

1

Section 27

Construction and Housing

This section presents data on the construction industries and on various measures of construction activity and costs; housing units, values, facilities, and structural characteristics; residential financing; and urban renewal.

The principal source of these data is the Bureau of the Census, which issues the monthly Construction Reports series (see below); the Current Housing Reports series, which comprises the quarterly Housing Vacancies, the quarterly Market Absorption of Apartments, and the irregularly-issued Housing Characteristics; and various reports of the censuses of housing and of construction industries. It also provides many of the data published by the Bureau of Competitive Assessment and Business Policy in the monthly Construction Review, which brings together the major construction statistics series compiled by the Federal Government and also some series from private agencies. Other sources include the monthly Dodge Construction Potentials of F. W. Dodge Division, McGraw-Hill Information Systems Company, New York, N. Y., which presents State data on construction contracts; and the Statistical Yearbook of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Construction.-The first three censuses of the construction industry were taken for 1929, 1935, and 1939 as part of the censuses of business. The next census of the construction industry was taken for 1967 as a part of the 1967 economic censuses.

The 1967 Census of Construction Industries covered construction establishments as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Office of Management and Budget. A construction establishment was defined as a relatively permanent place of business where the usual business activities related to construction were conducted. Reports were required from all establishments with a payroll equivalent of 10 or more employees and all establishments operated by multi-establishment companies. Data for single unit companies with a payroll equivalent of less than 10 employees were estimated on the basis of a probability sample survey. In addition, limited data for more than 400,000 construction establishments without payroll were developed from Government administrative records. For information on published reports, see "1967 Census of Business" in Appendix III of this book.

Current construction statistics compiled by the Bureau of the Census appear in the Construction Reports series. Monthly statistics supplemented by additional quarterly or annual data are published in reports with the following subtitles: Housing Starts and Housing Completions, presenting data, respectively, on the start and completion of construction by type of unit; Sales of New One-Family Homes, which includes data also on homes available for sale; Value of New Construction Put in Place, which also includes monthly composite construction cost indexes and an annual price index for new one-family homes sold; and Housing Authorized by Building Permits and Public Contracts, which covers approximately 14,000 permit-issuing jurisdictions in the United States. Statistics on expenditures by owners of residential properties are issued quarterly in Expenditures on Residential Additions, Alterations, Maintenance and Repairs, and Replacements and annually in Residential Alterations and Repairs. Historical data on housing starts and building permits appear in Housing Construction Statistics, 1899 to 1964.

Housing. From 1850 through 1930, the Bureau of the Census collected some housing data in conjunction with censuses of population and agriculture. Beginning in 1940, censuses of housing have been taken at 10-year intervals. For the 1970 census, data are presented on occupancy and structural characteristics, plumbing facilities, value, and rent. The 1970 data on home characteristics are limited to year round housing units.

Evaluation studies of the 1950, 1960, and 1970 censuses estimated erroneous omissions of occupied housing units at 2.9 percent, 2.4 percent, and 2.0 percent, respectively. These errors in the counts were partially offset by overenumeration of occupied housing units. In the 1950 and 1960 censuses, the net undercount of occupied units was estimated at 2.3 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively. The net undercount was not estimated for the 1970 census. The estimates for the various censuses are not strictly comparable due to differences in timing, procedures, and other factors. The census tabulations have not been adjusted to reflect the estimated undercounts. Housing units.--In general, a housing unit is a group of rooms or a single room occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters, that is, the occupants do not live and eat with any other persons in the structure, and there is either (1) direct access from the outside or through a common hall, or (2) complete kitchen facilities for the exclusive use of the occupants. Transient accommodations, barracks for workers, and institutional-type quarters are not counted as housing units.

Residential financing.-The Bureau of the Census began collection of detailed statistics on residential mortgages in 1890. In the 1920 and 1940 censuses, mortgage questions were asked of owners who occupied their own homes. In 1950, the census included a separate survey covering nonfarm residential mortgaged properties, both owner and renter. As part of the 1956 National Housing Inventory, data were collected on the financing of owner-occupied nonfarm properties. In 1960, the Residential Finance Survey covered financing of both homeowner and rental properties and characteristics of nonmortgaged as well as mortgaged properties. 1970 data on residential financing are expected to become available in late 1972.

Data on home mortgages and foreclosures, based largely on reports from major holders, are provided by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. The Housing Production and Mortgage Credit-FHA and the Veterans Administration compile data from their records on various aspects of home financing.

Historical statistics.-Tabular headnotes provide cross-references, where applicable, to Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1957. See preface. FIG. XLVII. VALUE OF NEW PRIVATE NONFARM ONE-FAMILY HOMES SOLD: 1965, 1970, AND 1972 [See table 1158]