New construction steadies

August contracts for new construction brought no major increase over July's bleak conditions in the nation's depressed housing markets, the F. W. Dodge Division of McGraw Hill Informations Systems Company reports.

The seasonally adjusted Dodge index of total construction contract value ( 1972 equals 100) steadied at 156 in August after sinking to 153 in July. Last November the index stood at 205.

The actual value of newly started construction projects in August totaled $12 .3 billion. This represented a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $142 billion.