TAKE NOTE
The Housing Picture
Look in the right spots and it isn’t so bad.
Illustrating what we already know doesn’t make the picture any brighter: the housing market in the United States isn’t pretty. New home construction has been declining over the past year, and sales have stalled. Yet, there is some good to be seen if you look in the right spots.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, privately owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.5 million, 0.2 percent below the revised July estimate and 19 percent below the revised August 2006 rate of 1.9 million. Single-family housing completions in August 2007, however, were at a rate 3.4 percent above the July figure.
That’s not great news if your business relies on new construction. But if you’ve listened to what window coverings business gurus have been saying for quite some time, you know that the home improvement and remodeling industry is doing well and is poised to grow over the next several years. And that’s where you need to be.
Based on a study of sales of home improvement products, increases are expected to continue over the next five years. Despite the housing market downturn, the home improvement products market posted another year of solid growth in 2006—up 9.2 percent in nominal dollars, according to a study by Global Insight and the Home Improvement Research Institute.
|
