At 54.2, June's Architecture Billings Index marked the fifth straight month of gains in construction design services billings, with the residential component of the index posting a 12-month high.

All of the four regional scores were above 50 led by the South's 54.8, which extends an almost five-year stretch of positive billings in that region. The Northeast had the most impressive gain – from 46.5 to 51.5. The Midwest posted a score of 51.9 and the West climbed to 53.1. As for the breakdown by sector, multi-family residential was at the top at 57.1, followed by mixed practice (53.8), institutional (52.6), and commercial / industrial (52.1).

The American Institute of Architects also reported that the new projects inquiry index was 58.6, a drop from the 62.4 score of the previous month, and the new design contracts index fell from 54.8 to 53.7.

"So far this year, new activity coming into architecture firms has generally exceeded their ability to complete ongoing projects," said AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker. "Now, firms seem to be ramping up enough to manage these growing workloads."

According to the Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group, the performance of the private residential and nonresidential sectors looks to be solid through the end of the year.