Articles

In 2022, U.S. floor coverings sales slowed considerably from the sharp gains experienced in 2021, according to Catalina Research. The year started strong since flooring sales were still benefiting from the surge in housing demand in 2021. Floor covering sales growth weakened in the second half as the Federal Reserve sharply increased interest rates to curb inflationary pressures. Rising interest rates caused housing starts and existing home sales — the primary drivers of U.S. floor coverings sales — to decline sharply. At the same time, inflationary pressures and supply chain issues caused flooring prices and installation costs to surge. The rising cost of an installed floor resulted in customer purchases slowing at an even sharper rate than manufacturer sales. Read More

Total construction starts fell 9% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. Nonresidential starts led the downturn, falling 14%. Nonbuilding starts fell 9%, and residential starts lost 4% Read More

U.S. hard-surface imports finally crossed over the “400” bar in May, with the $425.2 million in customs value showing a 16.2% increase from April. However, the total is still more than 13% behind the $490.8 million of May 2022. Read More

The American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) Consensus Construction Forecast panel has optimistic projections for nonresidential building spending in late 2023 and beyond, and the news is generally positive-with a caveat. The panel-comprised of leading economic forecasters-is projecting that spending on buildings will increase by 20% this year-a torrid pace not seen since the construction boom years leading up to the Great Recession. Read More

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 50.1 for June indicates that billings at architecture firms remained steady as design activity continues to slowly recover from roiled economic conditions, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek. Read More

Privately‐owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,434,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced, 8.0% below the revised May estimate of 1,559,000 and is 8.1% below the June 2022 rate of 1,561,000. Read More

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes in July posted a one-point gain to 56, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the seventh straight month that builder confidence has increased and marks the highest level since June of last year. Read More

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for June 2023 were $689.5 billion, up 0.2% from the previous month, and up 1.5% above June 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Read More

Floor Focus’ Survey 2023: What the Retailers Think, in the July 2023 issue of Floor Focus, shows flooring category trends among independent retailers over a five-year period. Read More

"Wall Street is more convinced than ever that inflation is subsiding,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Read More