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2nd Quarterly Cost Report:
Hard Bids, Low Costs 06/24/2009 In less than a year the construction market has gone from owners fishing for bids to a bidding frenzy. In some cases the competition has become so intense it has taken on an air of desperation that is driving costs down to questionable levels. The resulting low bids may not turn out to be the bargains they seem. Construction cost indexes are falling as well. Steel prices are half of what they were last summer, and other materials producers are struggling just to meet the cost of production. Construction unemployment is over 19%, putting a cap on this year’s wage settlements and executive compensation. It’s starting to look like a long, hot summer. View Complete Report with Data and Analysis |
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1st Quarterly Cost Report:
Inflation Reverses Course As Recession Floors PricesOver the last six months, the deepening recession its accompanying credit crisis have dramatically changed the construction industry’s cost picture. |
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4th Quarterly Cost Report:
Recession KO's Inflation in 2009The economic crisis has gone global, slowing contruction markets worldwide and knocking back inflation both in the U.S. and overseas. |
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3rd Quarterly Cost Report:
Crisis Changes Demand Side of CostsRecord high oil and steel prices during the first half of the year were just starting to work their way into construction industry cost indexes when the financial meltdown on Wall Street threatened to drastically reduce the demand side of the cost equation. |
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2nd Quarterly Cost Report:
Demand Crowns Diesel, Not Gasoline, Cost King Two to three years ago, some contractors began retiring diesel pickup trucks and replacing them with gasoline units in anticipation of the rising cost of cleaner diesel fuel and lower-emission engines. But many never expected diesel to lose its longtime price stability. |
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1st Quarterly Cost Report:
Stagflation Threatens Construction As High Prices Stare Down Recession As bad economic news continues to mount it is becoming increasingly clear that last year’s subprime mortgage crisis is spilling over into the overall economy and could eventually threaten still healthy commercial and public construction markets. |
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4th Quarterly Cost Report:
Inflation Bows To Sub-Prime Crisis The sub-prime mortgage disaster helped knock the wind out of construction inflation during 2007 by flooring the housing market. |
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3rd Quarterly Cost Report:
Inflation Knocked Back a Notch It has taken nearly two years of steady declines in the housing market but the strong materials price escalation of the previous three years appears to have been knocked off balance. |
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