Midwest gains in architectural billings activity

The Washington-based American Institute of Architects (AIA) reports its Architecture Billings Index (ABI) figure for the United States in July was 50.0, indicating that billings at architecture firms remained flat for the month.

The AIA, which calculates the ABI along with Virginia-based software and information services provider Deltek, says its Midwest region was the only one above that break-even point, with a 51.6 index figure for July. The ABI in the West, meanwhile, was 49.6, compared with 49.3 in the Northeast and 48.9 in the South.

“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,” the AIA says.

“This is the third straight month that billings at architecture firms have stabilized,” AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker says. “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.”

According to the AIA and Deltek, 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.

A July breakdown by sector shows the following ABI figures: 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).

Providing potential encouragement for the construction and demolition sectors, the AIA and Deltek calculated a growth-oriented 54.5 national July figure for its project inquiries index.

The AIA, which was founded in 1857, has more than 200 international, state and local chapters and advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public well-being.