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Things decidedly aren’t looking up for the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI), which continued to decline in April with a score of 43.2—that’s a nearly 1 point drop from the score of 44.1 reported for March. (Any score below 50.0 indicates softening business conditions at architecture firms.) Per the AIA, billings have been on the decline for 28 out of the past 31 months following a relatively fleeting boom that immediately followed the coronavirus pandemic. The last time that the ABI stabilized and inched above 50 was reported in November 2024 when the previous month’s score was 50.3. April’s ABI saw new project inquires drop for the third month in a row while the value of new design contracts has declined at most firms for 14 months straight.

Image courtesy the American Institute of Architects

Still, it’s not entirely doom and gloom for the daily operations of most firms, explained AIA chief economist Kermit Baker: “Uncertainty as to the economic outlook continues to hold back progress on new construction projects.” He adds: Despite the slowdown in billing activity, architecture firms continue to navigate this business cycle quite effectively, as staffing at firms remains relatively stable and project backlogs are holding up better than expected.”

Image courtesy the American Institute of Architects

On a regional basis, the South and Midwest continued to report the highest scores (46.2 and 44.4, respectively) compared to the West and Northwest’s sagging scores of 42.1 and 40.4. Among sectors, institutional projects continued to lead with a modest improvement of 46.3 compared to the previous score of 46.2 while multifamily residential showed a slight—but not insignificant—rebound, increasing from 40.3 to 40.8. 

Compare recent ABI scores with the interactive graph below.

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