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TCNA releases Ceramic Tile Industry Update Wednesday, April 17, 2019 from Floor Covering Weekly Daily [Anderson, S.C.] The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) has released the… Read More

According to the latest Catalina Research Quarterly Update, U.S floor coverings sales are being adversely affected by the increase in interest rates over 2018. Consumer floor coverings spending hit a wall in the third quarter of 2018 as mortgage interest rates reached their highest level in almost a decade. Consumer spending was flat in the third quarter and declined by 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Consumer spending could have remained weak in the first quarter of 2019 since the housing market remained sluggish. Read More

The Feb. reading of 1.16 million is the number of housing units builders would begin if they kept this pace for the next 12 months. Within this overall number, single-family starts fell 17 percent to 805,000 units following an unusually high reading of 970,000 units in Jan. Meanwhile, the multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, increased 17.8 percent to 357,000. Read More

"The recent decline in mortgage rates have helped boost sales activity as home buyers take advantage of these lower interest rates," said Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn.   Read More

Tile and stone continues to be a growth leader for floor covering sales and in 2018 — its growth outpaced overall U.S. Flooring Covering growth for 2018, according to Catalina Research. And, the category gained significant share last year. According to the quarterly report, dollar sales are estimated to have increased 6.8 percent, while square footage could have increased by 6.2 percent. Read More

First-time home buyers make up 37 percent of all households who purchased homes in the two years preceding the release of the 2017 AHS, down from 39 percent in the 2015 AHS. The median price of homes purchased by recent home buyers, including first-time buyers and previous home owners, known as trade-up buyers, increased by 10 percent from the 2015 AHS.  Read More

Stone sales have been slow to grow over the past year, according to Catalina Research. Read More

Despite the substantial growth of overall construction spending in the US last year, ceramic tile consumption did not keep pace. Read More

Builder confidence holds steady in March Monday, March 18, 2019 by Floor Covering Weekly [Washington] Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes held steady at… Read More

While the construction industry remains generally optimistic, there is growing concern that a broader economic downturn may be materializing over the next 12 to 24 months. Sources of this concern include a softening investment environment, an international slowdown and weakness in the housing and auto sectors, which are considered leading indicators of the economy.  Read More