Architecture Billings Index Steady at 50 in July

Washington, DC, August 23, 2023-The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for July was 50.0, indicating that billings at architecture firms remained flat for the month, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA)/Deltek.

“This is the third straight month that billings at architecture firms have stabilized,” said AIA chief economist Kermit Baker, PhD. “New project work has been even stronger over this period. This suggests that design work may finally begin to increase over the coming months, although somewhat modestly.”

Firms with a commercial/industrial specialization reported their strongest billings growth in more than a year, while firms with a multifamily residential specialization continued to report declining billings. While this marks the ninth consecutive month of growth for firms located in the Midwest region, firms in other regions reported modest declines in billings.

Regional averages were as follows: Midwest (51.6); West (49.6); Northeast (49.3); South (48.9).

The sector index breakdown was commercial/industrial (52.7); institutional (51.2); mixed practice (firms that do not have at least half of their billings in any one other category) (46.3); multifamily residential (45.4).

The Project inquiries index score was 54.5, and the design contracts index score was 50.0.

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