2024Q4 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Architectural & Design Sector
Findings from the Q4 2024 Houzz Renovation Barometer, which tracks residential renovation market expectations, project backlogs and recent activity among businesses in the architectural and design services sector.
The Project Backlog Indicator is 6.3 weeks nationally at the start of Q4 2024: The overall backlog for the architectural and design services sector is longer by 0.2 weeks compared with last year (6.1 weeks). This year-over-year decrease is driven by architects who report longer wait times, up 0.4 weeks from last year. On the other hand, interior designers report slightly shorter wait times, down by 0.2 weeks from Q4 2023. The wait times in the industry are hovering around the historic norm.
Backlogs vary across all regional divisions among businesses in the architectural and design services sector. Businesses in the West South Central division (including Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana) report backlogs of 4.4 weeks, while backlogs in the Middle Atlantic (including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania) are much longer (9.9 weeks).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects decreased to 54 in Q3 2024 (compared with 60 in Q2): This decrease is attributed to a drop in both project inquiries and new committed projects (down 8 points to 52 and 5 points to 55 from Q2, respectively). The indicator remains steady at 60 for architects. In contrast, interior designers report a 17 point drop in business activity, with the indicator dropping below the 50-point line and reaching 43.
The Q4 2024 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer was fielded from September 26 through October 9, 2024 and garnered responses from 240 architects and 361 interior designers on Houzz (n=601 in the architectural and design services sector).
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The Expected Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects increased to 71 for Q4 (compared with 60 for Q3): This is driven by a 13-point increase in expectations for project inquiries (from 60 for Q3 to 73 for Q4) and a 9-point increase in committed projects (from 60 for Q3 to 69 for Q4). Architects are especially optimistic about business activity, reporting a 17-point increase in expectations for Q4. Interior designers, on the other hand, are more cautious, reporting a 1-point increase in expected business activity 60 for Q3 to 61 for Q4. A score above 50 points indicates that a larger number of firms expect their business activity to improve rather than decline compared to the previous quarter.