This week, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales saw a four month decline in July to their slowest pace in over two years.
Despite an apparent slump in the existing home sales data, the outlook for the home improvement market remains strong for the rest of the year. At the start of Q3, remodelers on Houzz reported an average project backlog of 10 weeks, twice higher than the same time a year ago. Similarly, remodelers’ expectations for new inquiries and new projects in Q3 remained high. Key forces continue to spur renovation market activity including, Baby Boomers’ investing in universal design features for homes where they will retire, aging housing stock that requires maintenance, and finally, limited housing inventory which drives prices up and gives homeowners confidence in their investment back into the home. It would take significant disruptions to one or more of these factors to see the home improvement market fall off its current growth trajectory.