Section 20
Construction and Housing
This section presents data on the con-
struction industry and on various indica-
tors of its activity and costs; on housing
units and their characteristics and occu-
pants; and on the characteristics and
vacancy rates for commercial buildings.
This edition contains data from the 2005
American Housing Survey.
The principal source of these data is the
U.S. Census Bureau, which issues a vari-
ety of current publications, as well as
data from the decennial census. Current
construction statistics compiled by the
Census Bureau appear in its New Residen-
tial Construction and New Residential
Sales press releases and Web site
<http://www.census.gov/const/www/>.
Statistics on expenditures by owners of
residential properties are issued quarterly
and annually in Expenditures for Residen-
tial Improvements and Repairs. Value of
New Construction Put in Place presents
data on all types of construction. Reports
of the censuses of construction industries
(see below) are also issued on various
topics.
Other Census Bureau publications include
the Current Housing Reports series, which
comprise the quarterly Housing Vacan-
cies, the quarterly Market Absorption
of Apartments, the biennial American
Housing Survey (formerly Annual Housing
Survey), and reports of the censuses of
housing and of construction industries.
Other sources include the monthly Dodge
Construction Potentials of McGraw-Hill
Construction, New York, NY, which
present national and state data on con-
struction contracts; the National Associa-
tion of Home Builders with state-level
data on housing starts; the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, which pre-
sents data on existing home sales; the
Bureau of Economic Analysis, which pre-
sents data on residential capital and gross
housing product; and the U.S. Energy
Information Administration, which pro-
vides data on commercial buildings
through its periodic sample surveys.
Censuses and surveys—Censuses of
the construction industry were first con-
ducted by the Census Bureau for 1929,
193