I.E. construction spending follows national downshift

     It seems the Inland Empire's construction scene is following a national trend.
     Construction spending nationwide fell for the 11th time in May, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday, but it wasn't because developers cut back on commercial spending.
     In fact, nonresidential construction rose in May by 0.2 percent to a record $405 billion, while home and apartment starts dropped 1.6 percent -- the 25th decline over the last 26 months.
     While local commercial building rates are fairing much better than home building, the commercial market looks like it's starting to take a nose dive this year.
     When the housing market peaked in the two-county region in late 2006, commercial developers and brokers were still pouring hundreds of slabs and soliciting work space.
     Builders pulled 22,000 residential permits during the first five months of 2004 across the two-county area, but that number has plunged 80 percent when compared to the same period this year, according to the Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board.
     Commercial permits, on the other hand, have mostly risen. CIRB only tracks the dollar amount of commercial permits and reports that the value of these permits rose 50 percent in San Bernardino County for the five-month period from 2004 to 2007 before finally dropping 40 percent this year.
     Likewise, the value of commercial permits jumped 23 percent in Riverside County for the same five-month period from 2004 to 2007, but this year that value dropped 15 percent.
     --matthew.wrye@inlandnewspapers.com