Industry Research
Renovation Barometer
2023Q4 Houzz Renovation Barometer - Construction Sector
Findings from the Q4 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 47 for Q4 (compared with 54 in Q3): The expectations for both project inquiries and new committed projects decreased quarter-over-quarter (from 54 to 46 and from 53 to 47, respectively). These decreases are especially prevalent among build-only remodelers reporting a decline in expectations for Q4 (41 compared with 54 in Q3). A score lower than 50 points indicates that more businesses expect quarter-over-quarter declines than quarter-over-quarter increases. Expectations for Q3 remained at 53 for the fourth quarter in a row among design-build remodelers. See additional sub sector and regional data (PDF).
The Project Backlog Indicator is 11.4 weeks nationally at the start of Q4: The overall backlog for the construction sector is 0.9 weeks longer than the corresponding period last year (10.5 weeks in Q4, 2022). Among the two reporting business groups, the backlogs are at 11.5 weeks for design-build firms and are at 10.6 weeks among build-only firms. Compared with the same period last year, wait times are longer by 1.1 weeks for design-build and longer by 0.1 weeks among build-only firms.
Geographically, backlogs vary significantly from 5.0 weeks (East South Central division) to 15.1 weeks (West North Central division) across the nine Census divisions. Compared with the same quarter one year ago, backlogs for the construction sector are longer across five of nine Census divisions (across all but the East North Central, East South Central, Middle Atlantic, and the 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 44 in Q3 (up 1 point compared with Q2): This follows an increase in project inquiry to 43 in Q3, (compared with 39 in Q2). New committed projects decreased to 44 (down 3 points compared with Q2). Recent business activity increased to 46 among build-only remodelers in Q3 (compared with 44 in Q2). By contrast, design and build remodelers reported a decrease in recent business activity to 41 in Q3 (compared with 42 in Q2). See additional subsector and regional data (PDF).
The Q4 2023 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer was fielded from September 30 through October 12, 2023 and garnered responses from 204 architects and 385 interior designers on Houzz (n=589 in the architectural and design services sector). See detailed methodology here.
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