Struggling US Housing Market Impacts Retail Sector: Insights
Click to start listening
Moscow, Jan 1 (NationPress) The sluggish US housing market is harming businesses that rely on consumers to spend money on enhancing and furnishing their new residences, as highlighted by local news outlets.
Data from Coresight Research indicates that retailers have declared more closures than openings in the US for 2024, reversing a two-year trend that favored net openings.
According to the report released on Tuesday, home retailers were a significant factor in this downturn, with companies like Big Lots and Conn's entering bankruptcy and announcing plans to shutter hundreds of stores.
The decline in home sales has pushed some already struggling enterprises to the brink, despite signs of a potential recovery in the housing market by late 2024. Existing-home sales saw an uptick in November, achieving the largest year-over-year increase in over three years, as reported by the Xinhua news agency and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Nevertheless, overall, sales of previously owned homes in 2024 are projected to reach the lowest levels since 1995. With mortgage rates rising back to elevated levels seen in the summer of 2024, sales activity is expected to decelerate in the upcoming months, according to the report.
The slowdown in housing sales throughout most of 2024 has adversely affected companies like LL Flooring, which filed for voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization in August. Home retailers are also feeling the strain from a decreased demand for furniture and home-improvement supplies following a surge in expenditures during the pandemic when many Americans were confined to their homes.
The annual report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revealed that 771,480 individuals faced homelessness on a single night in January 2024, representing an 18.1 percent increase compared to 2023.
The most significant increases were observed in Illinois, Hawaii, and other states grappling with challenges related to housing affordability and a rise in migrant populations.
