I think construction starts have fallen off. There's a long construction period and different construction trades are phased at different points, and have diff

I think construction starts have fallen off. There's a long construction period and different construction trades are phased at different points, and have different backlogs. My experience is that the parts of construction which typically happen at the beginning of a job (things like financing, land acquisition, architecture, demolition / asbestos removal) are hunting for work, while trades which typically happen at the end (plumbing/electrical/HVAC) are still booked full-up and nearly impossible to get at reasonable prices. This is all consistent with the construction pipeline having dried up, but most of the individual trades having a solid backlog as existing projects complete.