Guide predicts strongest, weakest AEC markets for 2013

The JAGG Group, a consulting and publishing company dedicated to the architecture, engineering, environmental and construction industries, ranks the apartment market as the hottest for AEC firms working in the United States in 2013.

The company’s 270-page report – The 2013 Guide to the U.S. AEC Markets – ranks 40 separate market sectors served by AEC firms within seven broader categories: residential, commercial, institutional, transportation, water/wastewater, environmental and power.

The full list is available on the firm’s blog (http://www.aecinsight.com).

“Ranking the markets according to a variety of factors, including size, anticipated growth and intangibles unique to the individual market gives some guidance to firms planning their marketing and business development approach in 2013,” says report author Jerry Guerra. “The intention is to show the relative strength various markets served by AEC firms in the United States. It is essentially a summary of the data and information presented throughout the rest of the report, which is where the real meat of these rankings lies.”

The report predicts that the multifamily-for-rent market, which enjoyed solid growth and high activity in 2012, will repeat its strong performance in 2013. The apartment market is followed in the rankings by natural gas, senior housing, transmission/ distribution and health care as the five markets anticipated to be the healthiest in 2013.

On the opposite end of the ranking for the New Year are high-speed rail, nuclear power and brownfields.

The report ranks the markets according to a weighted scale that takes into account the market’s size, short-term growth projection (2013), long-term growth projection (annualized five-year estimate) and a variety of intangible factors.

The intangible category – worth 20% of the total – is included to adjust for factors outside of size and anticipated growth. For example, single-family housing is a massive market expected to have a high growth rate in both the short- and long-term. However, because the market is recovering from such a low point, competition is high (including many small firms still starving for work) and opportunities for traditional architecture and engineering firms are limited, the “intangible” category drags the single-family housing market closer to the middle of the pack (12th overall).

To support the market sector rankings and provide more insight into their outlook for 2013, the book includes more than 150 pages of analysis. The annual report – the sixth authored by the 10-year-old JAGG Group – also includes top industry trends, an analysis of the 2012 Election results, an overview of the industry and U.S. economy, and a glimpse of international market opportunities for 2013. +