Following a sizable decrease in demand for design services in March, the April Architecture Billings Index (ABI) climbed back into positive territory according to a new report announced May 22 by The American Institute of Architects (AIA).
AIA’s ABI score for April showed a small increase in design services at 50.5 in April, which is up from 47.8 in March. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings. Additionally, business conditions remained strong at firms located in the South. Despite this and the positive overall billings score, most regional and sector indictors continue to display decreasing demand for design services.
“Only firms located in the South continued to report improving business conditions, while firms located in the rest of the country saw declining billings for the third consecutive month. This was most noticeable at firms located in the Northeast, where billings softened even further this month. In addition, firms of all specializations also reported declining firm billings in April, with firms with a commercial/industrial specialization reporting the weakest conditions at this time,” according to the AIA’s ABI report for April.
“In contrast to 2018, conditions throughout the construction sector recently have become more unsettled,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Though we may not be at a critical inflection point, the next several months of billing data will be indicative of the health of the industry going into 2020.”
Key ABI highlights for April include:
- Regional averages: South (51.6); Midwest (49.3); West (49.0); Northeast (45.1)
- Sector index breakdown: mixed practice (53.2); institutional (49.2); multi-family residential (47.4); commercial/industrial (46.6)
- Project inquiries index: 60.9
- Design contracts index: 52.1
The regional and sector categories are calculated as a three-month moving average, whereas the national index, design contracts and inquiries are monthly numbers.
