Industry Research
Renovation Barometer
2024Q2 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Architectural & Design Sector
Findings from the Q2 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 Expected Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects decreased to 58 for Q2 (compared with 66 for Q1): This is driven by an 11-point decline in expectations for project inquiries and a 6-point decrease in new projects (to 55 and 60 points, respectively) in Q2 2024. Both architects and interior designers report a drop in expectations for Q2, with the indicator dropping 10 points for architects (67 in Q1 and 57 in Q2) and 4 points for interior designers (63 in Q1 and 59 in Q2). 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. See additional subsector and regional data.
The Project Backlog Indicator is 5.6 weeks nationally at the start of Q2 2024: The overall backlog for the architectural and design services sector is down by 0.5 weeks compared with last year (6.1 weeks), and is 0.9 weeks longer than it was five years ago in Q2 2019 (4.7 weeks). This year-over-year decrease is driven by architects, who report 6.2 week wait times, down 0.8 weeks from last year. Interior designers reported a 0.1 week increase in wait times compared with last year (4.6 weeks).
Backlogs vary across all regional divisions among businesses in the architectural and design services sector. Businesses in the Middle Atlantic division (New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) reported backlogs of 9.3 weeks, while backlogs in the East South Central division (including Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi) were much shorter (2.8 weeks). Backlogs reported by architects in the Middle Atlantic division (11.9 weeks) are the driving force for long wait times, whereas the wait to begin a new project with an interior designer in that area is only 4.9 weeks. Compared with the same quarter one year ago, backlogs for the architectural and design services sector are shorter across seven of the nine Census divisions (across all but the Middle Atlantic and South Atlantic divisions).See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects decreased to 53 in Q1 2024 (compared with 54 in Q4 2023): This decrease is attributed to a drop in new committed projects to 54 (down 3 points from Q4 2023), while project inquiries are up 2 points to 53. With the indicator at 54 for architects and 52 for interior designers, it shows that more businesses in these groups saw improvements in activity than those experiencing slowdowns. See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Q2 2024 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer was fielded from March 15, 2024 through April 4, 2024 and garnered responses from 183 architects and 352 interior designers on Houzz (n=535 in the architectural and design services sector). See detailed methodology here.
See Related Stories:About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing an all-in-one software solution for industry professionals and tools for homeowners to update their homes from start to finish. Using Houzz, people can find ideas and inspiration, hire professionals, and shop for products. Houzz Pro (houzz.com/pro) provides home industry professionals with a business management and marketing SaaS solution that helps them to win projects, collaborate with clients and teams, and run their business efficiently and profitably. The Houzz community is made up of millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals around the world. Houzz is available on the web and as a top-rated mobile app. For more information, visit houzz.com. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide.
See Related Stories:About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing an all-in-one software solution for industry professionals and tools for homeowners to update their homes from start to finish. Using Houzz, people can find ideas and inspiration, hire professionals, and shop for products. Houzz Pro (houzz.com/pro) provides home industry professionals with a business management and marketing SaaS solution that helps them to win projects, collaborate with clients and teams, and run their business efficiently and profitably. The Houzz community is made up of millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals around the world. Houzz is available on the web and as a top-rated mobile app. For more information, visit houzz.com. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide.