Construction abandonments of private projects have hit an all-time high. Private developers scrapped more projects in May 2025 than in any other month on record, according to the latest data from Cincinnati based ConstructConnect.

The Project Stress Index is a measure of construction projects that have been paused, abandoned, or have a delayed bid date. “Abandonment activity has continued to rise, reaching its highest reading in over a year,” said Devlin Bell, associate economist at ConstructConnect. For the month of May 2025, private abandonments increased 62.6% over the month and are now up 92.2% year over year. That surge has led to the highest level of abandonments since ConstructConnect began tracking data in mid-2019.