Industry Research
Renovation Barometer
2023Q2 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Architectural & Design Sector
Findings from the Q2 2023 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 56 for Q2 (compared with 48 for Q1): This increase in expectations is driven by a 6-point increase in project inquiries to 55 and by an 11-point increase in new committed projects (58 compared with 47 in Q1). Among the two reporting business groups, expectations increased among architects by 12 points to 55 in Q2 (compared with 43 in Q1) and by 1 point among interior designers (57 points in Q2 compared with 56 points in Q1). See additional subsector and regional data.
The Project Backlog Indicator is 6.1 weeks nationally at the start of Q2: The overall backlog for the architectural and design services sector is 1.8 weeks shorter than the same period last year. Among the two reporting business groups, architects’ backlog is at 7.0 weeks (2.2 weeks shorter relative to Q2 2022) and interior designers’ project backlog is at 4.6 weeks (1.2 weeks shorter relative to Q2 2022).
Backlogs across all nine regional divisions vary significantly from 4.6 weeks in the West North Central division to 8.4 weeks as reported by architects and interior designers in the East South Central division. See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects decreased to 42 in Q1 (compared with 43 in Q4, 2022): While the overall indicator is down for the eighth consecutive quarter, it has declined only slightly to 42 (down 1 point, relative to Q1). The recent project inquiries declined to 40 (down 2 points) and the new committed projects remained steady at 44 in Q1 . Among the two reporting business groups, architects reported a steady recent business activity at 41 and interior designers reported a 5-point decrease in business activity to 43 in Q1 (compared with 48 in Q4). See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Q2 2023 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer was fielded from March 3 through March 24, 2023 and garnered responses from 195 architects and 328 interior designers on Houzz (n=523 in the architectural and design services sector). See detailed methodology here.
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