2026Q1 U.S. Houzz Pro Industry Barometer: Architectural & Design
Findings from the Q1 2026 Houzz Renovation Barometer, which tracks residential renovation market expectations, project backlogs and recent activity among businesses in the architectural and design services sector.
1 of
The Project Backlog Indicator is 4.5 weeks nationally at the start of Q1 2026: The overall backlog for the architectural and design services sector is shorter than the wait times reported a year ago (down 2.8 weeks). Architects report a decrease of 4.3 weeks in wait times to 4.5 weeks and backlog is only slightly shorter for interior designers compared to a year ago (down 0.1 week to 4.5).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects jumped to 54 in Q4 (compared with 43 in Q3): This increase is attributed to an uptick in both project inquiries and new committed projects (up 11 points to 54 and 53 points, respectively). The indicator is up by 16 points for architects relative to Q3, reaching 55 points and is up 2 points for interior designers relative to Q3, reaching 50 points in Q4. The overall indicator is above the 50-point line, because more businesses reported improvements in business activity than those reporting slowdowns compared to the quarter before.
The Q1 2026 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer was fielded from December 2 through December 22nd, 2025 and garnered responses from 212 architects and 407 interior designers on Houzz (n=619 in the architectural and design services sector).
See Related Stories:
See Related Stories:
The Expected Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects inched up to 61 for Q1 (compared with 59 in Q4 2025): This is driven by a 4-point increase in project inquiries (from 58 in Q4 to 62 for Q1). The indicator for new committed projects stayed stable at 60 points. Expectations for business activity for Q1 inched up among architects while remaining stable for interior designers, compared to the previous quarter. Among the two reporting groups, expected business activity indicators now stand at 61 for both architects and interior designers. A score above 50 suggests that more businesses in both groups anticipate improved business activity for Q1 compared with Q4 2025.