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Survey: Strong Rentals and Equipment Acquisitions

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
May 02, 2015

According to Wells Fargo Equipment Finance's 2015 Construction Industry Forecast, contractors and equipment distributors remain optimistic regarding the prospects of local, nonresidential construction activity this year and respondents expect a strong rental market and increasing equipment acquisitions. The survey uses an Optimism Quotient (OQ) as its primary benchmark for measuring construction industry contractor and equipment distributor sentiment. This year's OQ reached an historic high of 130, up six points from 124 in 2014 and up considerably from the survey low of 42 in 2009.

This year's increase in the OQ marks the third time in four years that it has reached a new high, which signals confidence that growth has been accelerating over that time.

The positive survey results were seen as particularly good news considering that they coincided with a period of sharp decline in crude oil prices at the beginning of 2015. According to John Crum, senior vice president and national sales manager of the Construction Group at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, “We thought the predictions of lower capital expenditure related to construction in the energy sector might impact more of our survey population and dampen enthusiasm about the year ahead, yet contractors and equipment distributors indicated that the trajectory of the broader construction industry is still going in the right direction: up.”

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