August marked the 19th consecutive month of declining billings for architecture firms, according to data from American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI). The pace of decline during August accelerated, posting an ABI score of 45.7, a decrease from 48.2 in July.
Kermit Baker, PhD, chief economist at AIA, says, “Unfortunately, even the impending interest rate cuts didn’t move the needle on project inquiries or new design contracts at architecture firms. Hopefully, once the trajectory of further cuts gets clarified, delayed projects will restart, and new projects will gather momentum.”
Key ABI highlights for August include:
- Regional averages: Northeast (48.2); South (46.8); Midwest (46.6); West (45.7)
- Sector index breakdown: mixed practice (firms that do not have at least half of their billings in any one other category) (48.6); institutional (47.4); commercial/industrial (46.6); multifamily residential (44)
- Project inquiries index: 52.4
- Design contracts index: 47.3
The regional and sector categories are calculated as three-month moving averages and may not always average out to the national score.
