Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment. From the AIA: ABI November 2024: Architecture firm billings remain flat

Despite the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score dipping slightly below 50 for the month, it remains close enough to that threshold to indicate that the share of firms that reported declining billings was essentially the same as the share that reported increasing billings. Although it would be better to see the majority of firms reporting growth, the fact that billings have returned to flat after declining for nearly two full years is an encouraging sign that conditions are improving for more firms. Inquiries into new work continued to grow steadily, and while the value of newly signed design contracts declined for the eighth consecutive month, the pace of that decline slowed this month.

Business conditions continued to improve in the West and South regions of the country in November, where firm billings increased for the second consecutive month. Most notable was the strength of billings growth in the West, where the score was the highest it has been since mid-2022. Although billings continued to decline at firms located in the Northeast and Midwest, the pace of the decline slowed in both regions this month. There was significant improvement in business conditions at firms with a multifamily residential specialization in November as well, where they reported their first increase in billings since August 2022, at the end of the post-pandemic boom. In addition, billings increased for the second consecutive month at firms with an institutional specialization. While billings continued to decline at firms with a commercial/industrial specialization, the pace of the decline slowed significantly.
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The ABI score is a leading economic indicator of construction activity, providing an approximately nine-to-twelve-month glimpse into the future of nonresidential construction spending activity. The score is derived from a monthly survey of architecture firms that measures the change in the number of services provided to clients.
emphasis added