Housing Continues With Strong Showing
The nation’s housing market, coming off a record year in 2003,
continues to exhibit resilience and strength with shipments of key
products, including those for the kitchen and bath, following suit
in 2004. Among the key statistics released by government agencies,
research firms and industry-related trade associations in recent
weeks were the following:
HOUSING STARTS & SALES
Demand for
newly built single-family homes “held steady at a healthy level” in
March, according to builders surveyed for the National Association
of Home Builders’ most recent Housing Market Index (HMI). Unusually
cold and wet weather in the South and West helped cool the national
pace of new-home construction for February, the NAHB noted. Housing
starts slipped to the seasonably adjusted annual rate of 1.855
million units. Even so, the pace of starts remained well above the
2003 annual total of 1.848 million, which was the highest in 26
years, the trade association added.
NEW & EXISTING-HOME SALES
The nation’s
housing market “could defy expectations” in 2004 and set another
record for existing-home sales this year, the chief economist for
the National Association of Realtors said last month. According to
David Lereah, the Washington, DC-based NAR is projecting that
resales will decline slightly this year. “But they remain at
exceptionally high levels [and] with a strong underlying demand for
housing from a growing population in a recovering economy, we could
be flirting with another record this year,” Lereah said.
Existing-home sales are projected at 5.92 million this year, second
only to the 6.10 million posted in 2003. Sales of existing
single-family homes rose in February, marking only the eighth month
on record that the sales pace has reached or exceeded the 6 million
mark, the NAR reported. The pace of new single-family home sales
increased 5.8% over the month before, to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 1.163 million, the Commerce Dept. reported. This was
a 24.4% gain over the February 2003 pace and 7.2% above the average
for all of last year.
APPLIANCE SHIPMENTS
Domestic shipments of
major home appliances rose slightly in February compared to
February of 2003, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
reported. The Washington, DC-based trade association said that
shipments in February totaled 6.03 million units, up 1.3% over
shipments in the same month last year. Year-to-date shipments
through February, pegged at 11.3 million units, were up 4.9% over
the same two-month period in 2003, AHAM noted. The association also
released a revised forecast for 2004 and 2005, projecting advances
in appliance shipments, to record levels, for both years (see
graph, above right). A previous forecast called for a slight
decline in 2004, off the record 73.7 million appliances that were
shipped last year. The revised forecast calls for more than 75.5
million units to be shipped in 2005, up from the 73.9 million units
projected for this year.
CABINET & VANITY SALES
Sales of kitchen
cabinets and bathroom vanities increased 17.6% in February over
sales the same month a year earlier, the Kitchen Cabinet
Manufacturers Association said last month. According to the Reston,
VA-based KCMA, manufacturers participating in the association’s
monthly “Trend of Business” survey reported that year-to-date sales
for the first two months of 2004 were running 17.8% over sales in
January-February of 2003.
Industry Stocks Slide Amid Concerns
Stocks associated with the kitchen and bath industry declined in
March. The index of 56 key stocks of building products
manufacturers, distributors, retailers, home builders and
e-commerce enterprises as tracked in Kitchen & Bath Design
News’ exclusive monthly Stock Index fell 47.84 points, or 2.01%, to
close the trading period from March 5 through April 5 at 2330.01.
In similar fashion, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 37.10
points, or 0.35%, ending the month-long trading period at 10558.40,
while the Nasdaq Composite gained 31.49 points, or 1.54%, to close
at 2079.12 (see Market Diary, below).
Declining stocks edged out advancing issues 30-24. Twenty-two of
the stocks rose to a new 52-week high, while one fell to a new
annual low and two remained unchanged. KMart, Stanley Works and
Owens Corning were top gainers, while Wickes and Beazer Homes were
among the session’s top losers.