Houzz Stat: Architects gain confidence

Architects and designers feel confident. The barometer reading for architects was 63 during the second quarter, while designers scored 66 — both indicate high confidence in the market. The scores were the same a year ago.

The barometer is an index designed to measure business sentiment. Scores over 50 indicate that there are more firms reporting higher business activity compared with the previous quarter than firms reporting lower activity. The higher the number over 50, the greater the proportion of firms reporting quarterly increases in business activity rather than decreases.

On a regional basis, the confidence of architects in the Northeast and Midwest decreased somewhat during Q2 2017 compared with one year earlier.

Score for size of architects’ new projects levels off. This chart shows the components of the Houzz Renovation Barometer: number of inquiries, number of new projects or orders, and size of new projects or orders. A reading over 50 indicates that there are more firms reporting that business activity is higher in these specific areas than firms reporting it is lower, relative to the previous quarter.

These scores are for architects and designers. As the chart shows, the barometer reading for the size of architects’ new projects or orders is lower year over year, though it’s still above 50. In other words, there are still more firms reporting an increase in the size of new projects than there are firms reporting a decrease, but the trend is not as pronounced as it was one year ago.

Read on for more Barometer results, here.