They’re still building like crazy in NW Arkansas.
Who has money for home improvement projects right now? Who can AFFORD them with the price of everything sky-high?
We are making repairs to our barn OUT OF NECESSITY so we can add room for more meat animals and chickens; something we SHOULD have done years ago, IMHO.
We are using up all materials on hand, with the exception of about $800 so far in concrete, which we ordered locally.
We’ve made no upgrades or improvements to our house since 2020. Gee. Wonder what happened then? *SMIRK*
Climate Envoy John Kerry threatens to seize farms in the name of … climate change
Great. Can I finally get someone to fix my ceiling lights?
This was kind of expected considering the boom in home improvement spending that happened during the pandemic.
People could not go on vacation, on a cruise, to the mall, out to dinner, etc. So, they built a new deck, patio, bought a hot tub, a new lawn tractor, etc.
This spending on home improvements followed by the exodus from the big cities with work from home pushed the prices of lumber, plywood and osb to all time record prices. This caused record profits too. Lumber starts and home construction hit the highest level in over ten years in 2022 at 1.7 million. We are now back to 1.3 million and heading lower back down to 1.1 or less depending on the recession.
Now, we are back to normal prices on lumber. In fact we are overproduced. Only because there have been major curtailments of Canadian lumber producers has the price of lumber stopped going down and recovered from the lows it hit at the beginning of this year.
So, Home Depot, Lowes, home builders in general are looking at lower profits in the next year. The home building industry is always the first reaction to interest rates and a turn in the economy. It is also the first to turn around.
So, as a lumber broker I paid off all debts two years ago. I can now survive on less income because I have no debt. I am sure I will see people in my industry leave over the next year or so. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Consumers aren’t completely throwing in the towel yet: Travel spending remains higher.
During the Covid years many at home projects were started, much more than usual and most of those are now done. normal market cycle as far as that goes. And yes add, presently with inflation homes/families have less extra cash to spend on non-essentials.
Biden’s fault
Lowes and Home Depot are ChiCom store fronts.
People often have dreadful taste.
They spend big bucks and get a dreary house. Then they want to sell it off.
Who would want to pay top dollar for a remodel that has to be redone?
My son is redoing his kitchen but NOT using big box store *quality* materials.
I work in the industry. It depends on the project. I am running less appointments this year but not that much, 3 percent or so. I am selling more window upgrades to folks wanting to stop the heat loss/heat gain and save $$$ on energy costs. So far, I’m still seeing growth, it has slowed down except for higher end homes.
We are still working on our house. We still have to put the flooring down in the kitchen and living room, paint the kitchen cabinets, put new hardware on and install new appliances. We are using the stuff that’s on sale etc since were just fixing It up on the cheap to sell.
I just discovered two fence posts rotten at ground level. I'm hiring a contractor to repair it. It's not beyond my skill level, but I just don't have the time to do it.
Does this mean that the won’t be anymore of those stupid “self labeled home improvement/pimp my house expurts shows” on just about every channel ?
Discretionary purchases are down across the board.
Wait wait wait Biden said building back better wouldn’t take long if he’s elected.
He’s loaded with a once upon a time stories.
Good! Please tell my wife!!
“Lowe’s on Tuesday lowered its profit and sales outlook for the year”
Is Lowes going woke to try to improve this and attract new customers? When I went through the garden section of my local Lowes yesterday I notice some flower pots that had the “pride” color wrapping around them.