What More Rental Homes Mean for Builders
With the housing market continuing to shrink, more people are renting. Here’s what it means for builders, contractors and product makers. With the typical age of first-time homebuyers at an all-time high of 40 last year and the share of first-time buyers contracting by 50 percent since 2007, it continues to mean more Americans are […]
Outlook for High Point Furniture Market Cautious
With the ongoing slide of furniture and home furnishings sales, the industry will gather later this month with bigger concerns. When the furniture industry meets later this month, starting on April 25th, for its twice-yearly market week in High Point, NC, it will seem to be another case of déjà vu. For at least the […]
AI: We’ll Use It…But We Don’t Trust It
Americans say they are increasingly using artificial intelligence in their everyday lives. But they also say they don’t necessarily like it. A new poll by Quinnipiac University reports that “an increasing number of Americans see more harm than good when it comes to AI’s impact on their daily lives and education and they are divided […]
Floor & Decor Continues to Expand, On Its Way to 500 Locations
The building supply retail chain has opened its first store in the Pittsburgh market, one of 20 new locations planned for this year. The rapidly growing specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories for homeowners and professionals has opened in the southern Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park. At the start of the year, […]
Denmark’s Tallest Mass Timber Tower Tests Eco-Friendly Building
At 20 stories, the new development also uses a number of other low-carbon high-rise construction techniques. Metropolis magazine, the online and print design and architecture magazine, in reporting on the new mass timber structure, also asks what it calls “one of architecture’s hardest questions: can the high-rise, arguably the most carbon-intensive urban typology, be rethought […]
Lowe’s HomeCare+ Offers Homeowners New Way to Maintain Homes
The new subscription plan gives consumers a choice of seven in-home services for an annual flat fee. Give Lowe’s credit for coming up with a way to allow homeowners to do home repairs at a fixed annual cost. The HomeCare+ program provides for up to two visits a year by Lowe’s workers to do repairs […]
VIDEO – IS IWF ONLY FOR WOODWORKING TOOLS? – With a new push into the DESIGN world, the ‘26 show might just surprise you
Check out Ethan’s furniture company at ethanabramson.com and connect with him on Instagram @thebuildwithethan.
Lot Supplies Loosen for First Time Since 2017
A good indicator of building activity crossed into the “slightly undersupplied” category from the “significantly undersupplied” category for the fourth quarter. The new data, from Zonda’s New Home Lot Supply Index (LSI) registered a reading of 81.6 in the fourth quarter, representing a 34.2 percent increase from the same period in 2024. “Policy uncertainty, the […]
Two Canadian Government Initiatives Support Timber Sector
Two new measures are designed to strengthen manufacturing and support workers in the field. Canada, which has been battling increased U.S. tariffs while dealing with the overall weakness in the construction field, has moved on two fronts to offer new support for the industry. The federal government announced a $4.4 million ($3.2 million USD) investment […]
Massive Bamboo Development Opens in Southern China
At nearly 9 million square feet the complex includes shopping, four residential units and a digital art museum. The scale of developments using bamboo continues to expand and nowhere is that more evident than in China, where a new urban district has opened in Yibin, in the southern portion of the country in Sichuan Province. […]