On May 22, 2013, the AIA issued a press release to
announce the Architectural Billings Index (ABI) for the Month of Aril
2013. As is usually the case with the
AIA’s press releases about the monthly ABI Index, that press release was short
and (well, this time, not so)
sweet. The ABI Index for April was 48.6;
we previously put up a post about that on the Repro 101 Blog (when the blog was
being published through the IRgA web-site.)
Not long after that press release, Kermit Baker of the
AIA, posted a more extensive article, in which he shares his insights and
opinions about what’s going on in the Architecture industry.
Below, you’ll find the first two paragraphs of that
article, followed by a link to the full article (and the charts/graphs that
accompany that article):
“Design
Activity Hits the Brakes in April”
Another
extended spring swoon seems unlikely, but architecture firms continue to report
problems in keeping projects moving along
By Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, AIA Chief Economist
“After eight straight monthly gains in design activity,
revenue at architecture firms fell in April. The ABI’s seasonally adjusted
reading for the month was 48.6, falling from 51.9 in March and 54.9 in
February. Housing starts nationally—particularly for multifamily units—also
dropped sharply in April, suggesting that the
construction sector remains choppy. Spring slowdowns have been common
during this uneven recovery, but the momentum of the fourth quarter of last
year and the first quarter of this year pointed toward growing design activity
moving through the entire year. Inquiries for new projects continued to grow at
a healthy pace in April, as did the volume of new design contracts, so the expectation is for a resumption of
revenue growth in the coming months.
The recent slowdown seems to have hit firms in the
Northeast and Midwest harder, as firms in both regions experienced setbacks.
Firms in the Northeast had reported growth for seven straight months prior to
the April downturn, while Midwest firms broke a string of six straight months
of gains. Firms in the South continue to see healthy gains, while firms in the
West reported only modest growth.”
Link to
complete article (with charts/graphs):
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