WREN Report: Consumer Spending Inches Up, New House Sales Fall Again

December 28, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on December 29, 2008 Consumer spending on all home furnishings, including furniture and bedding, rebounded in November, up 1.6 percent compared with October spending. Home furnishings spending in November was $408.2 billion. Measured against November 2007 spending, total home furnishings spending decreased 2.4 percent.

Spending on furniture and bedding plummeted in November, down 6.1 percent from this time last year to $78.8 billion. Compared with September spending, consumers spent 1.4 percent more on furniture and bedding in November.

On an annualized basis for the first 11 months of this year, furniture spending is $81.9 billion, down 3.8 percent from the comparable period last year.

Also based on the first 11 months of this year, consumer spending on all home furnishings is $414.4 billion, off 0.3 percent from the same period in 2007.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) tracks consumer spending. Included in home furnishings is virtually everything in consumer homes, including home textiles, consumer electronics, home accents and major appliances. Antiques and valuable art are not included.

Sales of new houses slipped again in November, down 2.9 percent compared with October sales, to a seasonally adjusted 407,000, compared with a revised October figure of 419,000, based on a joint report issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Compared with November of last year, new house sales fell 35.3 percent.

The Northeast and the West regions posted gains, up 14.3 percent and 11 percent respectively, in sales, compared with October figures, with sales in the South off 7.1 percent and the Midwest falling 16.4 percent.

Measured against year-earlier sales, all four regions recorded significant drops. Sales in the Northeast fell 27.3 percent, the Midwest declined 34.9 percent, the South slid 38.1 percent and the West skidded 32.2 percent.

Weekly Review of Economic News (WREN) reports are summaries of recently released economic statistical data that affect the home furnishings industry. WREN reports are compiled by HFB Research Editor Janice Chamberlain.