Articles

Total construction starts fell 9% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.25 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. The decline, however, comes on the heels of a massive increase in July that saw the start of three large manufacturing plants and two LNG export facilities. In August, nonresidential building starts rose 7%, residential starts were 1% higher, while nonbuilding starts lost 36%. Read More

High mortgage rates and building production bottlenecks continue to act as a drag on the single-family housing market even as overall housing starts posted a double-digit gain in August due to a surge in multifamily production. Read More

Foreign-sourced products penetrated the U.S. floor coverings market before the pandemic, throughout the pandemic and during the pandemic recovery. Imports continue to take share from domestic manufacturers (whether shipped from a plant owned by a U.S.- or foreign-based company) despite re-shoring of some production, supply chain issues and additional tariffs placed on Chinese-made flooring. Read More

"Falling home sales are rippling through the economy, providing a window into how rising interest rates can cool spending, hiring and growth,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Read More

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell three points in September to 46, the lowest level since May 2014 with the exception of the spring of 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Read More

Consumer sentiment rose 2.2% in early September to 59.5, according to the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. This represents an 18.3% decline year over year. Read More

"Mortgage rates topped 6% this week, their highest level since 2008, giving a jolt to home buyers who last year were paying less than half that,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Read More

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August 2022 were $683.3 billion, an increase of 0.3% from the previous month, and 9.1% above August 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Read More

Most economic forecasters feel that the U.S. economy will enter a recession sometime over the next year. Some feel that we are already in one. In this view, high rates of inflation and the Federal Reserve Board’s response of aggressively raising interest rates to rein in inflation will slow consumer spending, business investment and job growth. We’ll see, but many of those same economists feel that spending on the construction of buildings will not respond to an economic slowdown until at least the latter part of 2023 Read More

The technical properties of ceramics, such as its safety, its easy-to-clean aspect, resistance and durability, added to its design qualities, makes it a material with enormous potential and versatility for any interior design project, adapting to all rooms and offering solutions for different spaces throughout the home. Read More