Architecture Billings Index Moderates, Remains Healthy

For the 20th consecutive month, architecture firms reported increasing demand for design services in September, according to a new report from The American Institute of Architects.

The AIA Architecture Billings Index score for September was 51.7 down from a score of 53.3 in August, indicating essentially stable business conditions for architecture firms (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings from the prior month). Also in September, both the new project inquiries and design contracts indexes moderated from August but remained positive with scores of 53.6 and 50.7, respectively.

Key ABI highlights for September include:
• Regional averages: Northeast (54.6); Midwest (52.1); South (51.7); West (51.6)
• Sector index breakdown: institutional (58.9); mixed practice (50.3); multi-family residential (47.9); commercial/industrial (49.6)
The regional and sector categories are calculated as a three-month moving average, whereas the national index, design contracts and inquiries are monthly numbers.