Articles
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
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
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
Floor & Decor Sales Flat in Q4, Income Down 46%
Floor & Décor announced net sales of $1 billion, flat with Q4 2022. Comparable store sales decreased 9.4%. Read More
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
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
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