(10-23-20) The third quarter of 2020 ended on a more promising note for architecture firms, as fewer firms reported declining billings in September than in recent months. While the ABI score of 47.0 for the month means that the majority of firms still saw a decline in their firm billings, things have taken a more encouraging turn from the last three months where the recovery had all but stalled. In addition, indicators of work in the pipeline at firms also looked more encouraging in September than in August. Firms reported an increase in the number of inquiries into new projects for the second month in a row, and also reported a relatively modest decrease in the value of new signed design contracts, which looks likely to turn positive again soon. And firms reported a modest uptick in the length of their backlogs as well, which grew to 5.4 months in September, after plummeting from 6.3 months in December 2019 to just 5.0 months in March. Despite these encouraging signs, many architecture firms across the country continue to struggle. While billings at firms located in the Northeast have moved gradually toward a recovery every month since April, business conditions still remain quite soft there. Firms located in the Midwest and West look likely to be the first to return to billings growth, but even those firms still have a way to go. By firm specialization, business came roaring back at firms with a multifamily residential specialization in both September and August, where firms reported an increase in their billings for the first time since January. On the other hand, billings have stalled at firms with an institutional specialization, and remain quite soft at firms with a commercial/industrial specialization as well.
Architecture Billings Index (10-23-20)
- Architecture Billings Index, Economic Monthly Summaries
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