Total building permits start the year off slow in January
January building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,376,000, -5.4% below the revised December rate of 1,455,000 and -5.8% below the Jan. 2025 rate of 1,460,000. Single-family authorizations in January were at a rate of 873,000, -0.9% below the revised December figure of 881,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 453,000 in January.
AIA’s billings index shows some definite improvement in February
Architecture firm billings showed signs of stabilization in February after months of decline, with an AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 49.4 points, up from 43.8 points in January, indicating a slight majority of firms reported declining billings. The 50-pt. mark indicates a growth design climate.
Inquiries rebounded after a January dip, and while newly signed design contracts continued to decline, the rate of decline slowed significantly. These trends suggest potential stabilization, though global economic uncertainty could disrupt progress.
"Regionally, billings remained flat in the South for the second month but declined elsewhere, with the Northeast particularly affected by winter storms. Across specializations, billings continued to decline, although institutional firms' billings remained nearly flat.
AIA introduced a new quarterly ABI question asking firm leaders to predict how their firm's gross billings/billable work will compare between the current and next quarter. Nearly half (48%) of firm leaders expect billings to remain steady in Q2 2026 compared to Q1. About 31% anticipate a +5% or greater increase, while 21% foresee a -5% or greater decrease.
“While the ABI data shows some positive trends, the broader economy continues to struggle, with unemployment increasing in February,” said AIA Chief Economist Richard Branch in the press release. “However, architectural services employment remained steady in January at 204,600, up nearly 2,000 positions from a year ago.”
