Industry Research
Renovation Barometer
2021Q2 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Construction Sector
Findings from the Q2 2021 Houzz Renovation Barometer, which tracks residential renovation market expectations, project backlogs and recent activity among businesses in the construction sector.
The Expected Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects increased to 73 in Q2 (compared to 70 in Q1): The expectations for project inquiries increased significantly from 70 to 75 in Q2, while expectations for new committed projects increased from 69 to 70 in Q2 (up one point). Among the two reporting business groups, expectations were tempered for design and build remodelers at 70, compared to 73 in Q1, whereas build-only remodelers’s expectations for project inquiries and new projects increased significantly to 75 in Q2 (up eight points, compared to Q1). Expectations among firms in the construction sector have recovered significantly compared to their expectations for the same quarter a year ago. See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Project Backlog Indicator increased to 9.3 weeks nationally at the start of Q2: The overall backlog for the construction sector is about one month (3.9 weeks) longer than the same period last year. Among the two reporting business groups, backlogs increased among both build-only remodelers to 8.5 weeks (up 1.7 weeks relative to Q1) and to 10.1 weeks among design and build remodelers (up 2.1 weeks relative to Q1). Geographically, backlogs vary significantly from 7.1 weeks (West South Central division) to 11.3 weeks (New England division) across the nine Census divisions. Backlogs in the construction sector are longer than a year ago across all nine Census divisions. See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects increased significantly to 73 in Q1 (compared to 62 in Q4, 2020): This follows increases in project inquiry activity to 79 in Q1 (compared to 60 in Q4, 2020) and new committed projects to 67 (up four points relative to Q4, 2020). The overall recent activity indicator for the construction services sector was driven by increases reported by the two business groups. Build-only remodelers reported a significant increase in the recent business activity to 70 (compared to 53 in Q4, 2020), which is a significant improvement compared with the activity reported a year ago. Design and build remodelers also reported an increase in recent activity to 76 in Q1 (up six points relative to Q4, 2020). See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Q2 2021 Barometer was fielded from March 25 through April 8 and garnered responses from 208 build-only remodelers and 563 design and build remodelers (n=771 in the construction sector). See detailed methodology here (PDF).
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