NARI Report Shows Slowed but Continued Growth

Remodeling activity experienced slowed but continued growth through June 2016, as remodelers reported more inquiries, greater job value, more bids, and more conversions of those bids into jobs.

The findings are part of a quarterly business report from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. The NARI report is designed to measure the current health of the industry in four key areas.

On a nine-point scale that ranges from “much worse” to “much better,” remodelers compared their current status with last year for each category. Key findings:

• Number of inquiries: 5.99, up 0.5 percent
• Requests for bids: 5.94, up 0.3 percent
• Conversion of bids to jobs: 5.58, up 2.6 percent
• Value of jobs: 6.16, up 2.2 percent.

Postponed projects remained the No. 1 growth driver, followed by rising home prices. Company improvements and economic growth were other factors.

Remodelers rated their current sales at 5.96, up slightly from March but still down from a high of 6.48 a year ago.

New this quarter were questions about the impact of Department of Labor overtime rules that take effect in December, OSHA silica rules slated for next June, and the rate at which customers make use of available energy tax breaks.

More than 90 percent reported they knew about the overtime rule change that would make millions more eligible, but more than 60 percent said it would not affect them. About 10 percent expected that most of their employees would be affected.

Nearly 20 percent reported they didn’t know if they would be affected by the new OSHA rules for exposure to silica dust. About 30 percent anticipated moderate impact.

And even though remodelers try to give customers an energy break, few homeowners take advantage. The report found that while 95 percent of NARI members do projects that can earn homeowners energy tax credits, less than half see between 1 and 15 percent using them.

Converting bids into jobs, the report noted, “is the largest factor holding the industry back from future growth.”

Click to read more about NARI here.