Industry Research
Renovation Barometer
2023Q2 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Construction Sector
Findings from the Q2 2023 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 decreased to 51 in Q2 (compared with 53 in Q1): The expectations for both project inquiries and new committed projects decreased quarter-over-quarter (from 52 to 51 and from 54 to 52, respectively). This decrease is driven by a slight decline in expectations among build-only remodelers in Q2 (50 compared with 53 in Q1). Expectations for Q2 remained at 53 among design-build remodelers. See additional sub sector and regional data (PDF).
The Project Backlog Indicator is 11.9 weeks nationally at the start of Q2: The overall backlog for the construction sector is only slightly shorter than the corresponding period last year (12 weeks in Q2, 2022). Among the two reporting business groups, the backlogs are at 13.2 weeks for build-only firms and are at 10.5 weeks among design-build firms. Compared with the same period last year, wait times are shorter by 6 weeks for build-only and by more than 6 weeks among design-build firms.
Geographically, backlogs vary from 7.6 weeks (West South Central division) to 17.7 weeks (New England division) across the nine Census divisions. Compared with the same quarter one year ago, backlogs for the construction sector are shorter across only three Census divisions (East North Central, Pacific, and West South Central divisions). See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Recent Business Activity Indicator related to project inquiries and new committed projects increased to 45 in Q1 (up 3 points compared with Q4, 2022): This follows an increase in project inquiry to 43 in Q1, (compared with 39 in Q4, 2022) and an uptick in new committed projects to 47 (up 1 point relative to Q4, 2022). Recent business activity remained steady at 42 among build-only remodelers in Q1. By contrast, design and build remodelers reported an increase in recent business activity to 48 in Q1 (compared with 43 in Q4, 2022). See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Q2 2023 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer was fielded from March 3 through March 24, 2023 and garnered responses from 136 build-only remodelers and 349 design and build remodelers (n=485 in the construction sector). See detailed methodology here.
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