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Lowe's 2023 Sales Declined 11% YOY, Earnings Up 20%

Lowe’s reported net sales for Q4 2023 were $18.6 billion, a 17% decline compared to sales of $22.4 billion in the prior year quarter. Prior-year quarterly sales included approximately $1.4 billion from the additional 53rd week, as well as $958 million generated from Lowe’s Canadian retail business. Read More

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BEA News: Gross Domestic Product, Fourth Quarter and Year 2023 (Second Estimate)

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the "second" estimate. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4.9 percent. Read More

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Single-Family Starts Will Rise in 2024

While higher interest rates pushed single-family starts down in 2022 and 2023, production should move on a gradual upward path in 2024 as the Federal Reserve is on track to cut rates during the second half of the year with inflation slowing, according to economists speaking at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas today. Read More

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Port-of-Entry

December continues the calming trend for U.S. hard-surface imports, with the $373.9 million in customs value showing a slight increase – 2.2% -- in a year-over-year comparison. The huge annual and monthly drop-offs look to be over. While last December did trail November, the margin was within a seasonal year-end range of less than 3%. Read More

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Multifamily Confidence Reaches Negative Territory

Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing was in negative territory in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate indices. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) had a reading of 41—below the break-even point of 50—while the Multifamily Occupancy Index (MOI) reading was 77. Read More

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Home Depots Q3 Sales Down 2.9% YOY, Earnings Down 18%

The Home Depot reported Q4 2023 sales were $34.8 billion, a decline of 2.9% compared to Q4 2022’s $35.8 billion. Comparable sales for Q4 2023 decreased 3.5%, and comparable sales in the U.S. decreased 4.0%. Read More

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Homeowners Staying in their Homes Twice as Long as in 2005

The typical U.S. homeowner has spent 11.9 years in their home, up from 6.5 years two decades ago, according to Redfin. Homeowner tenure peaked at 13.4 years in 2020, just when the pandemic set off a moving frenzy, and has declined since then. Read More

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A Speeding Construction Market Hits A Slowdown

Spending on the construction of buildings increased by over 20 percent last year. Some sectors that saw outsized gains included manufacturing (up a whopping 70 percent) due to onshoring and federal funding under the CHIPS and Science Act, lodging (up 20 percent), healthcare (up almost 15 percent), and education (also up almost 15 percent). Read More

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Census Data Shows Consumers ‘Still Engaged’

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today shows that retail sales cooled in January but that households continued to spend, National Retail Federation chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said. Read More