Washington -- Architecture firm billing growth slowed in September but remained positive for the twelfth consecutive month, according to a report from The American Institute of Architects (AIA). AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for September was 51.1 compared to 54.2 in August. However, continued strength in new projects coming into architecture firms points to billings growth in the coming months.

“Similar to the strong conditions we’ve seen nationally, architecture firms located in the Midwest and Southern regions of the country continued to report very strong billings in September,” said Kermit Baker, PhD, AIA chief economist. “However, billings were soft at firms located in the Northeast again, where they have declined or been flat for the entire year so far.”

Regional ABI averages were as follows: Midwest (59.7), South (54.1), West (53.1), Northeast (46.6). Broken down by sector, ABI averages were: institutional (55.1), multi-family residential (54.9), mixed practice (53.4), commercial/industrial (50.8). Project inquiries index wa 58.8 and the design contracts index was 54.1.

For more information, visit www.aia.org.