by Calculated Risk on 7/20/2022 01:33:00 PM

Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment.

From the AIA: Architecture Billings Index continues to stabilize but remains healthy

Architecture firms reported increasing demand for design services in June, according to a new report today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The ABI score for June was 53.2. While this score is down slightly from May’s score of 53.5, it still indicates moderately strong business conditions overall (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings from the prior month). Also in June, both the new project inquiries and design contracts indexes moderated from May but continued to show growth, posting scores of 58.2 and 52.2 respectively.

“Ongoing project activity at architecture firms as well as new work coming online remains strong, pushing project backlogs up to seven months on average nationally,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “In spite of heavy workloads, employment at architecture firms has stabilized, suggesting that adding new employees is becoming even more challenging as the building construction sector continues to recover.”
...
• Regional averages: West (57.8); Midwest (54.8); South (51.5); Northeast (48.7)

• Sector index breakdown: institutional (53.5); mixed practice (52.8); multi-family residential (52.6); commercial/industrial (52.5)
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the Architecture Billings Index since 1996. The index was at 53.2 in June, down from 53.5 in May. Anything above 50 indicates expansion in demand for architects' services.

Note: This includes commercial and industrial facilities like hotels and office buildings, multi-family residential, as well as schools, hospitals and other institutions.

This index has been positive for 17 consecutive months.   This index usually leads CRE investment by 9 to 12 months, so this index suggests a pickup in CRE investment in 2022 and into 2023.