Market Insights

A growing number of engaged couples are listing home-improvement products in their gift registries, according to a just released survey by TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com. More than 12,000 couples with 2010 wedding dates were polled in the annual survey. Highlights include:

On average, engaged couples register at three retail stores, and 3% of the respondents registered at Home Depot in 2010. This compares to 2% in 2009. 

The S&P/Case Shiller Index, a bellwether for the new housing market, has reported that home prices for the month of February 2011 continue to fall from their year-ago levels but remain slightly above the April 2009 bottom point. 

The 10-City and 20-City composites fell 2.6% and 3.3% respectively from their February 2010 levels. Washington D.C. was the only market to post a year-over-year gain with an annual growth rate of 2.7%.

“Regarding 'An interview with Manufacturer X' -- I chuckled to myself when I read this recent anonymous interview. My first question to Mr. X: Why the anonymity? Embarrassed that you probably shipped hundreds of jobs to a Communist regime bent on destroying the West and dominating the world? Strengthening a financial system already holding trillions of dollars of American debt and wielding it as a threat in negotiations with the U.S. government?

A national poll released Tuesday revealed new incentives will be needed to persuade Americans to make energy-efficient improvements to their homes.

Beginning this year, tax incentives that once rewarded Americans for energy-efficient improvements have been slashed. For many Americans, the survey found, those incentives were a prime reason for making such improvements as replacing windows, adding insulation and buying energy-efficient appliances.

Sales of new single-family houses in December 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 329,000, up 17.5% from the November pace of 280,000. 

The December estimate, released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is the highest since April 2010. That month saw a relative frenzy of buying as the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers expired April 30. 

The December new home sales figure is also 7.6% below the December 2009 estimate of 356,000.

"Marvin’s has a very customer-friendly return policy. If you buy something from us, you have the ability to return/exchange, repair or return/refund as long as you have a Marvin’s receipt. Right now, we do not have strict timelines established around returns (i.e., 30 days, 90 days, etc). We do require vendors to support our return policy as their customer, the same way we support our customers. We stand behind what we sell, and expect our suppliers to do the same.

Arlington, Va. -- The data was flying fast and furious here at the Home Improvement Research Institute's (HIRI's) Spring Conference. 

The series of seminars carried the theme "Understanding Today's Home Improvement Industry" and kicked off Wednesday morning with a detailed examination of some unpleasant and lingering macroeconomic trends. Other charts presented by the day's seven presenters picked up where last year's conference left off by establishing a worst-is-behind-us view of the home improvement industry.

After three consecutive months of existing-home sales increases, the National Association of Realtors reported a 9.6% drop in completed transactions for February. 

The NAR's existing-home sales figure fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million, compared to 5.40 million in January. The February pace is 2.8% below the February 2010 pace of 5.03 million.