The latest analysis from Dodge Data provided an encouraging assessment of new construction in Chicagoland

According to the latest numbers from Dodge Data & Analytics, residential construction spending in the Chicagoland housing market totaled $397 million in November, and depending on what that number is compared to, that can be either good or bad news.

Although that total is a stark 59 percent below where construction spending was in Nov. 2014, year-over-year stats are often a misleading gauge on how a construction market is performing, as they vary considerably from month to month; year-to-date numbers, by contrast, are a much more accurate metric, and thus far in 2015, Chicagoland’s $4.44 billion in spending is a healthy 11 percent over the same time period last year.

For a broader view on the nation’s new construction markets, take a look at our infographic below: