At HIRI, NPD points to hot products

Research firm NPD Group discussed home projects -- "what's hot, what's not" during the Home Improvement Research Institute's Fall Conference.

According to Mark Delaney, director of home improvement for NPD Group, even though the average amount to be spent on a home improvement project declined 5% in August when compared with last year -- going from $641 in August 2008 down to $608 -- overall, the home improvement industry is doing better than most others. Delaney pointed to a poll that asked: "Considering the current economic conditions in the U.S., tell us if you plan to spend more money than usual, less money than usual or the same amount of money." According to the poll, 11% of respondents said they plan to spend more on home improvement, four points higher than any other category.

"Home Improvement is actually showing the largest positive number of all the industries that we track," he said. "There is clearly some pent up demand out there. I'm not going to white wash it and say that people are going out and starting to use their homes like ATMs or anything like that. It's not large scale remodel, it's not big type of spending -- but it is spending."

According to a planned project poll, lawns and landscaping are dominant categories, due in part to seasonality and lower price points. Increases were also seen in electrical/plumbing, roof, gutter and dining rooms, as well.

Delaney pointed to the fact that the largest percentage of the housing stock in the country is around 30 years old, and that much of home spending is based on repair and replacement, rather than remodel and updating.

Home appliances are also seeing a recovery, albeit a slow one. One section that is seeing a greater increase is replacement, which has accounted for approximately 50% to 54% of appliance trends in the last nine months.

"It's not about people upgrading, it's not about people going out and buying the big Viking ranges and all that stuff that they were doing in 2006 and 2007. It's all about washing machines that finally wear out that have to be replaced or refrigerators that just die," said Delaney.

Delaney said that the biggest decreases were in home offices, workout rooms and other luxury type upgrades.