Southeast

The Southeast has become the fastest-growing region in the country over the last ten years, outperforming the next largest market by several percentage points.

This has, unsurprisingly, been driven by new luxury hospitality and residential projects in Florida, which has more than doubled in construction spending over the last ten years. Several high-profile finance and tech companies have relocated here recently as well. Miami has grown so fast that the term “Manhattanization” was revived to describe its skyline, while Orlando is one of the world’s most visited cities. This is unlikely to be sustainable, however, but spending further north in the region should be enough to pick up the slack.

The key challenge that the region faces comes from extreme weather. Around 150 hurricanes have hit the area since 1950, and each storm puts millions of lives at risk and causes billions of dollars in damage. Building codes have adapted (and the results speak for themselves) but this will continue to be a problem throughout the 2020s and beyond. New buildings across the region must meet ever more stringent wind-loading standards with each passing year. This is reflected in things like the large share of residential improvements taking place here. Officials here have declined to retrofit existing structures, however, leading to something of a premium being placed on new construction.

* Other structures include religious buildings, amusement, government communications, and public recreation projects.