Hasta La Ideas

Despite some optimistic thoughts in the biannual Consensus Growth Forecast, the American Institute of Architects‘ monthly Architecture Billings Index is still moving along relatively glumly and unchanged. Though better than the sudden dip that took everyone by surprise last month, the Index is up just a touch this month to 46.0 (anything above 50 means there’s an increase in billings and demand for architectural services), though that’s just a 0.2 tick from where it was before. There was also a slightly larger move up in new project inquiries, which is a good sign, but business still remains not fully recovered just yet. Here’s a shorter-than-usual statement from the AIA’s chief realist, who despite these tiny increases, throws in a bit of optimism this time around:

“The steep decline in nonresidential property values has slowed investment in new facilities,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Conditions at architecture firms continue to remain very soft, but we’re optimistic that they will improve before the end of the year.”

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