Hardwood Floors Oct/Nov 2019

By Karen Garvey, Shannon Gayton, Lindsay Tal lman, and Lindsay Young OUTLOOK

2020 EXPECTED SALES GROWTH (COMBINED PARTICIPANTS)

11%

Up Significantly (8%+)

40%

Up Somewhat (3 to 7%)

33%

About the Same (-2 to +2%)

11%

Down Somewhat (-3 to -7%)

5%

Significantly Down (-8%+)

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

For the remainder of 2019, half of NWFA survey respondents said they expected their annual sales of wood flooring would remain roughly equal to 2018. Still, respondents are troubled by the prospects for the economy in the coming year. And they’re equally worried about competition from non- wood, including wood-look flooring. In fact, when asked to rank their concerns for 2020, the potential for economic slowdown tied with competition from non-wood flooring as the No. 1 issue that keeps NWFA members up at night. And about two-thirds indicated that non-wood products were having a negative impact on their wood-flooring revenue.

activity. National Association of Home Builders data for the first part of 2019 reflected a similar assessment: growth will continue, but not at the same rapid pace. “The remodeling market has decelerated somewhat due to ongoing supply-side challenges, as well as year- over-year declines in existing home sales,” NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said when the data were released in August 2019. “However, remodelers’ confidence continues to be positive. Market conditions would be better if not for labor shortages and rising construction costs making it difficult to complete some projects at prices homeowners can afford.”

in July 2019 by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, estimated that annual gains in homeowner expenditures for improvements and repairs would shrink from 6.3 percent in the current quarter to just 0.4 percent by the second quarter of 2020. The researchers blamed declining home sales and homebuilding activity coupled with slower gains in permitting for improvement projects. But the slowdown may soften, said Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies, if mortgage interest rates continue to fall, incentivizing home sales, refinancing and remodeling

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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