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Industry momentum that pushed the American Institute of Architects’ monthly billings index for upcoming nonresidential work into growth mode in October failed to sustain last month, with index that fell to 49.6, the association reported.
A score below 50 on the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billing Index marks a decline in business, AIA said, noting that it had been at 50.3 in October and had largely stabilized in the last two months after recording declines for almost two years.
Interest in planning new projects has begun to increase, but new contracts have continued to decline for the eighth consecutive month. The project inquiry index registered a rate of 54.1, while the design contract index was 48.3.
Regionally, the West recorded an index of 54.3, the highest score, while the lowest, 46.9, came from the North East. The southern region recorded a flat 50, with the Midwest slightly lower at 48.1.
“Given the broad weakness in business conditions for architecture firms, increasing firm profitability remains the top concern for 2025, with one-third of firm leaders selecting it as an important issue, the highest since 2017,” said Kermit Baker, AIA chief economist. Project fee negotiation ranked second among other top issues for respondents, chosen by 21%, while 20% identified the need to find new customers and markets or improve business planning and marketing compared to 18 % of last year, he noted.
