Architecture Billings Rebound from December

It's that time of month: the American Institute of Architects just released the most recent Architectural Billings Index (ABI) figures for January. The good news is that they're up from Decembers retreat, increasing from 48.5 to 50.4 in January. Any value greater than 50 means that architecture billings are increasing; architecture billings are a nine to 12 month leading indicator for construction activity. Here are the particulars:

Regional Averages:

• Northeast: 43.6 (continued weakness; weather is an issue)
• South: 53.5
• Midwest: 46.5
• West: 51.1

Sector Averages:

• Multi-family Residential: 51.8
• Commercial/Industrial: 50.9
• Mixed Practice: 48.4
• Institutional: 46.5

Project inquiries declined to 58.5 from 59.2 in the previous month.

Multi-family continues to drive the construction industry. Based on my previous post, hopefully