April 13, 2020

AIA: Residential design hard hit by COVID-19

The momentum building in the housing market since the Great Recession has completely reversed itself over just a few weeks, according to a report issued Friday from the American Institute of Architects.

It shows that revenue at residential architecture firms for March is estimated to have been 15% below their expectations at the beginning of the month, the AIA said. April is expected to be almost 20% below previous expectations.

Here are some other key findings from the survey of residential architects:

• 78% of firms have already seen slowing or stoppage of projects.

• 70% of firms indicate that inquiries for new work declined in March.

• Around 90% of firms have seen problems with current projects due to COVID-19.

• About two-thirds of firms indicated that a majority or virtually all of their staff are now working remotely.

• Firms anticipate accelerated revenue losses in April, with almost 70% expecting losses of 10% or more for the month relative to their expectations in early March.

AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker said the residential sector has been hit just as it was getting back on a solid foundation.

“Until we have a better understanding of when the homebuilding and home improvement industries can resume their normal pace, demand for residential design activity is expected to suffer,” he said.

The report is at https://tinyurl.com/wj4annf/.

The findings build on a separate recent survey of architecture firms serving the nonresidential buildings market.