According to the results of the quarterly survey of the Ifo Institute, the business climate for freelance architects remains favourable a the beginning of the second quarter of 2010.
The survey participants assessed their current business situation somewhat more favourably than in the previous quarter, but their business expectations are not as confident as they were three months ago. Although the share of optimistic architects has risen from 16 to 17 percent, the share of sceptics increased from 18 to 20 percent. On balance the architects still maintain an unbroken confidence regarding business developments in the coming six months.
More than half of the architects (55%) were able to conclude new contracts in the first quarter of 2010 – this is the highest level in 12 years.
The estimated volume of new contracts rose by nearly one fifth over the previous quarter. At the end of the quarter the architects had an order cushion of nearly six months. This is the highest level since the mid-1990s.
Presentation of survey results:
Erich Gluch, „ifo Architektenumfrage: Auftragsreserven weiter erhöht“, ifo Schnelldienst 63 (12), 2010, 67-68. (in German).
Ifo Architects Survey: Clear Increase in Order Stocks Results of the Ifo Architects Survey of 2nd quarter 2010 File size: 60 KB
Legend: The Ifo Institute has conducted its quarterly survey of freelance architects Germany-wide since 1996 (since 1980 in only four federal states) among a panel of 2,500 architects. The survey gathers data on the business climate, new contracts – from which construction volume is estimated – as well as orders on hand. The quarterly data is supplemented by annually surveyed data on how large the architectural offices are and on their legal forms and volume of fees.
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