Market Insights

The American Hardware Manufacturers Association’s AHMA Home Improvement Industry Confidence Index’s Current Situation Index improved in August to 229.2 from 225 in July (October 2008 = 100), while the Future Expectations Index was unchanged at 193.1.

In comparing current sales levels with year-ago levels, 55% of respondents said sales were higher in August versus year-ago levels, up from 54% in July.  For August, 10% reported sales were even, and 34% said sales were below year-ago levels.

I’ve been in the home improvement industry for 25 years, and I cannot remember a time with so much divergent information on where we stand and where we are heading. 


The Houzz Renovation Barometer Survey reveals a dip in inquiries, but a high score for landscapers.

Compared with June's housing start report, there is less to cheer about in the Tuesday morning release from the Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Bureau.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts slipped to 604,000 in July. But that's still up 9.8% from the July 2010 rate of 550,000. Another possible positive indicator: June and July marked the first two-month stretch of a pace higher than 600,000 since March and April of 2010.

The Multifamily Production Index (MPI), a leading indicator for the multi-family market released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), has recorded an index level of 51 -- its highest reading since the third quarter of 2005 -- up from 49 in the fourth quarter.

The MPI measures builder and developer sentiment about current conditions in the multi-family market on a scale of 0 to 100. This is the seventh consecutive quarter that the index has increased.

Industry growth was way above the U.S. average in October.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined in June, improved slightly in July.

Released Tuesday morning, the index now stands at 59.5 (1985=100), up from a downwardly revised 57.6 in June. 

Last year, July's index stood at 51.0. The Present Situation Index decreased to 35.7 from 36.6. The Expectations Index rose to 75.4 from 71.6 last month.

The anticipated cost of planned home improvement projects in June increased 5% to an average of $517 per project, according to the latest monthly update from the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI).

The spending average is the highest recorded in the month of June since tracking began in 2008. It's also the highest since the January 2011 planned-spending average of $548.

Overall, planned-project incidence increased to 49.1%, compared with 48.1% in June 2010.