Construction industry builds progress

The national commercial construction market is poised for a comeback next year, courtesy of the industry's savior: apartment complexes.

Fitch Ratings, for one, projects private, non-residential home construction will grow 5% in 2014 if the weather cooperates, according to a new report from the CoStar Group, a commercial real estate data firm. The ratings agency predicts the industry will grow only 2% in 2013, partly due to wet weather earlier this year. A bulk of the new projects will be multifamily and apartments.

Another potential impediment to growth in commercial construction, beyond weather, is financing. While credit markets have loosened somewhat, lenders remain picky, Fitch says.