The American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has returned a positive result for the second consecutive month.

The December score was 52.0, the same as November, and reflects an overall increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). 

The new projects inquiry index was 64.0, down one point on the previous month.

The ABI showed struggling business conditions for most of 2011.

AIA chief economist Kermit Baker said: “We saw nearly identical conditions in November and December of 2010, only to see momentum sputter and billings fall into negative territory as we moved through 2011, so it’s too early to be sure that we are in a full recovery mode. Nevertheless, this is very good news for the design and construction industry and it’s entirely possible conditions will slowly continue to improve as the year progresses.”