Articles

"The impact of COVID-19 is visible in the remodeling industry," said NAHB Remodelers chair Tom Ashley, Jr., CAPS, CGP, CGR, a remodeler from Denham Springs, La. "The rate of inquiries coming in is slowing down because many home owners are wary of remodeling crews inside their homes." Read More

"Housing has been deemed an essential business in most of the nation, and in the few states where the governors have not acted, we urge them to deem construction as essential," said Dean Mon, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Shrewsbury, N.J. "Housing can help lead an eventual rebound, as it has done in previous recessions." Read More

In 2019, Canadian ceramic tile consumption registered a further decrease, declining by 11.2% to 35.3 million sq.m Read More

Reflecting the growing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes plunged 42 points in April to 30, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. Read More

According to Catalina Research’s latest Floor Coverings Industry Quarterly Update, “Ceramic tile lost share of total manufacturer sales in the first quarter of 2020 due to supply chain problems. This was due to the sharp drop in Chinese ceramic tile imports since the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed preliminary duties on Chinese-made tiles.” Read More

The U.S. do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement industry is projected to continue to show continued growth in the market over the next several years. Several studies, including HomeAdvisor have reported that it's safe to say that the home improvement industry is in excess of $400 billion per year. Read More

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is urging members, and all residential construction companies, to halt work for at least 10 minutes on Thursday, April 16, to educate workers on what they should do to keep themselves safe from coronavirus and to help "flatten the curve" for everyone. NAHB has developed a blueprint for builders to conduct these COVID-19 safety stand downs. Read More

U.S floor coverings manufacturer and retailer sales were about to take off in 2020 when the coronavirus hit the country. In the first two months of 2020 housing starts soared, increasing by 35.4 percent. This followed a nearly 20 percent gain in the fourth quarter of 2019, after being flat over the first three quarters of the year.  Existing home sales also increased at double-digit rates in early 2020, after rebounding in the fourth quarter of 2019 from weak sales earlier in the year. The rebound in existing home sales resulted in homeowner residential improvement spending also increasing close to 20 percent over the first two months of 2020. And then the country was shut down. Read More

Millions more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, as businesses continue to lay off and furlough workers amid the coronavirus outbreak. Read More

"Before the coronavirus pummeled the U.S. economy, housing was on the rise with January and February new home sales numbers posting their highest reading since the Great Recession," said NAHB chairman Dean Mon, a home builder and developer from Shrewsbury, N.J.  "The demand is clearly there, and as this study shows, we expect that housing will play its traditional role of helping to lead the economy out of recession later in 2020 when the pandemic subsides." Read More