Articles

Low existing inventories and strong buyer demand helped push builder confidence higher for the third consecutive month even as supply-side challenges-including building material bottlenecks and lot and labor shortages-remain stubbornly persistent. Read More

The Home Depot reported sales of $36.8 billion for Q3 2021, an increase of 9.8% from Q3 2020’s $33.5 billion. Comparable sales for Q3 2021 increased 6.1%, and comparable sales in the U.S. increased 5.5%. Read More

The cost to move a container across the Pacific fell by more than one-quarter last week, the biggest decline in two years, reports the Wall Street Journal. This applies to premium, not contract buy, rates; most flooring importers don't buy at this premium rate.  Read More

Despite the highest home prices ever, fierce competition, and a nationwide housing shortage, more first-time buyers become homeowners during the Covid-19 pandemic, reports the National Association of Realtors Read More

Consumer sentiment slid 6.8% in early November to 66.8, according to the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.  This represents a 13.1% decline year over year.  Read More

Housing affordability held steady at its lowest level in nearly a decade, as higher home prices offset lower mortgage rates to keep the affordability rate flat in the third quarter of 2021. However, ongoing supply-chain disruptions and the prospect of higher interest rates in the future threaten to exacerbate affordability problems in the months ahead. Read More

Ceramic tile imports rose 22.2% in square meters in the first nine months of 2021 and 29.8% in dollars, reports Grosser Consulting.  Read More

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.9% in October on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.4% in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Read More

The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.6% in October, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.  Read More

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 531,000 in October, and the unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point to 4.6%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.  Read More