Home lmprovement Stays Strong

Mortgage rates may be on the rise, but the home improvement industry remains strong. Total home improvement product sales in 2005 are estimated at a record $291 billion-up 7 .5Vo. With the help of continued hurricane rebuilding activity, 2006 sales should increase an additional 4.67o to $305 billion, according to a new study by Global Insight.

Housing starts and existing home sales - strong coincident indicators for home improvement activity-both posted over 4Vo increases in 2005. Consumer market sales clearly benefited, rising 7 .2Vo to $216 billion.

"With the housing market beginning to show a gradual slowdown, there has been some talk that the home improvement industry will suffer its effects," states Fred Miller, managing director of the Home Improvement Research Institute. "But housing turnover is only part of the picture. A large piece of the home improvement market involves maintenance and repairs as well as improvements to homes where there is no change in ownership. This makes the home improvement industry far less cyclical than new home construction."

Even the most current data points to the continual health of the home improvement industry. In recently released data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, December 2005 retail sales for building material and garden equipment/supply dealers grew 9.77o over the same period in the prior year. This growth was significantly above retailing in general.

Continued hurricane rebuilding efforts will also help to offset the effects of a market slowdown well into 2006. In particular, the professional market, stimulated by the repair and rebuilding efforts, was up by 8.47o for 2005.

And the long-term outlook for the market remains strong. Global Insight projects an average of 4.6Vo total market growth in constant dollars for 2008-2010-below the pace of tne past five years, but well ahead of the rate of overall economic growth.

Weyco Leaving New Zealand

Weyerhaeuser joint venture subsidiary Nelson Forest Products Co. has placed its New Zealand timber

"My help really takes the time to walk people through the whole project. If [customers] are willing to give it a try,I'm willing to bend over backward to make sure they're successful. My employees feel the same way."

- John Knibloe, Knibloe Hqrdware, Jackson. ML

assets-including a sawmill and 165,000 acres of plantation forestsup for sale

Federal Way, Wa.-based Weyerhaeuser Co. attributed the sale to the pending expiration of the l4-year-old JV partnership with a New Zealand timber investment fund.

Weyerhaeuser New Zealand managing director Lees Seymour anticipated the sale of Nelson Forests Joint Venture would be completed by the third or fourth quarter of 2006.