Articles
Home Sales Post Gain Despite Higher Mortgage Rates
Despite higher interest rates last month, new home sales rose in March due to limited inventory of existing homes. However, the pace of new home sales will be under pressure in April as mortgage rates moved above 7 percent this month, which is expected to moderate sales and increase the use of builder sales incentives this spring, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Read More
At the end of Q1, there were 6,065 projects with 702,990 rooms in the pipeline, according to the Q1 2024 U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE). This new all-time high represents a 9% year-over-year (YOY) increase in projects and a 7% YOY increase in rooms compared to last year. Read More
U.S. Ceramic Consumption Declined 7.3% in 2023
U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2023 was 2.85 billion square feet, down 7.3% from the previous year, according to the Tile Council of North America. Revenue in dollars declined 8.1%. Read More
Domestic Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Seek Tariffs on Dumped & Subsidized Indian Imports
Today, U.S. ceramic tile manufacturers, representing over 90% of all U.S. ceramic tile manufacturing are filing anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions with the federal government seeking the imposition of substantial tariffs on imports of ceramic tile from India to remedy unfairly low-priced imports that have injured domestic manufacturers and flooded the market with uncertified porcelain tiles. Read More
Slowing of Residential Remodel Expected to Extend into 2025
Annual expenditures for improvements and repairs to owner-occupied homes are projected to decrease this year and into Q1 2025, but at a moderating rate, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Read More
Housing Starts Declined 14.7% in March, Down 4.3% YOY
Privately‐owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,321,000, 14.7% below the revised February estimate of 1,549,000 and is 4.3% below the March 2023 rate of 1,380,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Read More