The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced Wednesday the latest numbers for the AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) for June. According the report demand for services decreased in June to 49.1, in comparison to 50.2 in May. Any score below 50 indicates a decrease in billings.
Both the project inquiries index and the design contracts index continued to soften in June but remained positive. “With billings declining or flat for the last five months, it appears that we are settling in for a period of soft demand for design services,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “With the new design contracts score reaching a 10-month low and the project inquiries score hitting a 10-year low, work in the pipeline may start to get worked off, despite current robust backlogs.”
According to the June report, the firms who responded to the special practice questions regarding the impacts of potential, threatened and possible retaliatory tariffs, a majority of those firms have at least some concern about tariffs. Rising construction costs for projects was the most commonly cited impact for those respondents who have been impacted by tariffs.
Key ABI highlights for June include:
- Regional averages: South (51.9); West (49.3); Midwest (48.9); Northeast (46.1)
- Sector index breakdown: mixed practice (54.3); commercial/industrial (52.3); institutional (47.0); multi-family residential (46.3)
- Project inquiries index: 52.8
- Design contracts index: 50.3
The regional and sector categories are calculated as a three-month moving average, whereas the national index, design contracts and inquiries are monthly numbers.
