Industry Research
Renovation Barometer
2025Q2 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Architectural & Design Sector
Findings from the Q2 2025 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 5.7 weeks nationally at the start of Q2 2025: The overall backlog for the architectural and design services sector is nearly the same as the wait times reported a year ago (up 0.1 weeks). This year-over-year stability is reported by both architects and interior designers whose reported wait times for Q2 are 0.1 weeks longer than a year ago.
Backlogs do not vary significantly across all regional divisions among businesses in the architectural and design services sector. Businesses in the Mountain division (including Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho) reported backlogs of 4.3 weeks, while backlogs in the East South Central (including Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi) were about two weeks longer (6.5 weeks).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects increased to 59 in Q1 2025 (compared with 58 in Q4 2024): This increase is attributed to an uptick in both project inquiries and new committed projects (up 1 point for each to 57 and 60 from Q4 2024, respectively). The indicator is down by 2 points for architects and up 5 points for interior designers. Despite the minor decline reported by architects, the overall indicator is above the 50-point line, suggesting widespread improvements in the business activity in Q1 compared to Q4 2024.
The Q2 2025 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer was fielded from March 14th through March 28th, 2025 and garnered responses from 229 architects and 394 interior designers on Houzz (n= in the architectural and design services sector).
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The Expected Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects declined to 62 for Q2 (compared with 68 for Q1): This is driven by a 4-point decline in expectations for project inquiries (from 66 for Q1 to 62 for Q2) and expectations for committed projects (down 7 points). Both architects and interior designers tempered their expectations for Q2, compared to the previous quarter, with indicators declining to 59 and 67 respectively. 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.