Construction Backlog at Highest Level in Nearly Two Years

New findings from the Associated Builders and Contractors show a significant increase for both large and small contractors.

The housing slowdown and looming impacts to cost increases due to pending tariffs remain but right now the backlog remains strong, the association said in a survey taken in the period of late April to early May. It said the construction backlog rose to its highest level since September of 2023 and that contractors’ confidence in their future profit margins also grew. 

It said its findings showed that the largest increases were for contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenues. It reported lesser increases for the smallest contractors doing less than $30 million in business, though it is down year-over-year for those in the $30 million to $100 million revenue range. 

While the findings were positive, ABC found that “nearly 22 percent of contractors had a project delayed or canceled in April due to tariffs, up from 18 percent in March.” Some 87 percent have been notified of tariff-related materials price increases,” said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist, noting that builders may be bracing for whatever is coming next. 

“While ABC members remain upbeat about the near-term outlook, the share of respondents that expect their sales to decline over the next six months rose to 19 percent in April, up 6 percentage points since the start of the year,” Basu said.

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