May 7, 2024

Dodge Momentum Index Rises 6.1% In April

The Dodge Momentum Index rose 6.1% in April, moving to 173.9. This was up from the revised March score of 164.0. Commercial planning increased by a substantial 12.6%, while institutional planning fell 6.3%.

Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting for Dodge Construction Network, stated, “The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) saw positive progress in April, alongside a deluge of data center projects that entered the planning stage.”

Martin continued, “Outsized demand to build Cloud and AI infrastructure is supporting above-average activity in the sector. Most other categories, however, faced slower growth over the month. Across these industries, it’s likely that owners and developers are grappling with uncertainty around interest rates and lending standards, thus delaying their decisions to push projects into the planning queue. If interest rates begin to tick down in the latter half of 2024, more substantive growth in nonresidential planning activity should follow.”

From a year over year prospective, Dodge stated that the DMI was 1% better than 2023. Commercial activity was up 6% while institutional planning was down 15%.

Sources: For more information about the Dodge Momentum Index, visit the Dodge Data & Analytics website.