Articles

"The Federal Reserve is still aiming to lower interest rates later this year, and for many U.S. households and small businesses those rate cuts can’t come soon enough,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “But for big companies able to tap the corporate bond market, and for investors riding a rising stock market, relief from the Fed doesn’t seem all that necessary. Read More

Privately‐owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,521,000, 10.7% above the revised January estimate of 1,374,000 and 5.9% above the February 2023 rate of 1,436,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Read More

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes climbed three points to 51 in March, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the highest level since July 2023 and marks the fourth consecutive monthly gain for the index. Read More

Associated Builders and Contractors reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 8.1 months in February, according to an ABC member survey conducted February 20 to March 5. The reading is down 1.1 months from February 2023. Read More

In the month of January 2024, total U.S. imports of ceramic tile were 13.79 million square meters, according to Grosser Consulting, a 7.9% decline compared to January 2023’s 14.97 million square meters. Read More

The Tile Shop reported net sales for Q4 2023 were $84.5 million, a decrease of 3.4% compared to Q4 2022’s $87.5 million. Read More

LL Flooring reported Q4 2023 net sales declined 19.7% to $211.8 million compared to sales of $263.9 million in Q4 2022, driven by a decrease in transaction count and average transaction size reflecting lower spend by consumers and pros. Read More

With the presidential and congressional elections occurring later this year, many are pondering their impact on the U.S. economy. There are basically two schools of thought on how federal elections translate to economic conditions. The first is that politicians will stimulate the economy with new spending programs to promote greater support for their economic agenda, hoping that voters will reward them and other candidates in their party at the polls. Read More

Led by larger urban metro markets, single-family growth rates are showing signs of a turnaround as moderating mortgage rates and a lack of existing inventory are contributing to a gradual upward trend, according to the latest findings from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) for the fourth quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, new data on overall production in coastal areas shows that single-family home building is holding steady while multifamily is falling. Read More

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, fell 1.4% in February to 180.5 (2000=100) from the revised January reading of 183.0. Over the month, commercial planning fell 2.3% and institutional planning ticked up 0.1%. Read More