2021Q1 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Architectural & Design Sector
Findings from the Q1 2021 Houzz Renovation Barometer, which tracks residential renovation market expectations, project backlogs and recent activity among businesses in the architectural and design services sector.
The Expected Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects increased to 68 in Q1 (compared to 62 in Q4 2020): This is a result of increases in expectations for both project inquiries at 66 (compared to 62 in Q4) and in new committed projects to 71 (compared to 61 in Q4). Among the two reporting business groups, architects reported a twelve-point increase in overall expectations to 69 relative to Q4, while interior designers’ expectations decreased slightly by three points to 67. See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Project Backlog Indicator increased to 5.6 weeks nationally at the start of Q1: The overall backlog for the architectural and design services sector is one week (1.1 weeks) longer than the same period last year. Among the two reporting business groups, architects’ project backlog increased to 6.1 weeks (up 1.8 weeks relative to Q4), and interior designers’ backlog remained relatively steady at 4.9 weeks (up 0.1 weeks relative to Q4). Backlogs across all regional divisions vary from 3.3 weeks (West North Central division) to 6.6 weeks (Mountain division) across the nine Census divisions. See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects increased to 64 in Q4 (compared to 61 in Q3): The overall indicator follows recent project inquiry activity, which increased to 64 in Q4 (up four points, relative to Q3), and new committed projects increased to 64 in Q4 (up two points, relative to Q3). Among the two reporting business groups, overall recent activity grew to 63 (up four points) for architects and to 66 as reported by interior designers. The recent business activity among firms in the architectural and design service sector is above its levels relative to the same time period a year ago. See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Q1 2021 Barometer was fielded from January 7 through January 25 and garnered responses from 309 architects and 478 interior designers on Houzz (n=787 in the architectural and design services sector). See detailed methodology here (PDF).
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