INDUSTRY NEWS Houzz study: confidence high, Q4 expectations strong for home renovation professionals Houzz Inc., the lead- ing platform for home remodeling and design, recently released the Q3 2017 Houzz Renovation Barometer, which tracks confidence in the home renovation market among indus- try professionals. The Q3 2017 Barometer reflected high quarter- over-quarter confidence for all industry sectors including archi- tects, designers, general contrac- tors (GCs)/remodelers, design- build, specialty building/reno- vation and specialty landscape/ outdoor, with readings of 62 or higher. Expectations for Q4 are strong across all sectors. Coupled with this positive busi- ness outlook are persistent labor shortages, as reported by 78% of GCs, remodelers and design- build firms. For homeowners, this translates to higher costs and longer project timelines. Fifty-six percent of renovation firms report increasing costs of subcontractors in Q3 2017 (versus 53% in Q3 2016) and 54% report increasing project lengths (versus 50% in Q3 2016) due to labor shortages. TheHouzzRenovationBarometer Backlog Index increased slightly from Q2 2017 to Q3 2017, with project backlogs of five to eight weeks on average across sectors, reflecting significant wait times before companies can take on new projects. General contractors (GCs), remodelers and design- build companies have the lon- gest average backlogs (7.1 and 7.7 weeks, respectively). “Residential renovation and design professionals report another strong quarter of new business activity and a very positive out- look in the near term,” said Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. “That said, widespread skilled labor shortages leave lit- tle wiggle room for businesses to absorb sudden demand pressures such as recent hurricanes in the South or more localized damage from wildfires in the West, driving up wait times.” Houzz took a deeper look at conditions among renovation pro- fessionals in the Houston met- ropolitan area and Southwestern Florida, areas impacted by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Within the first two weeks of landfall, the hurricanes caused 28% of renovation-related busi- nesses in the Houston metropoli- tan area and 41% in Southwestern Florida to suspend business oper- ations in these areas. Among companies that suspended oper- ations, 91% of those impacted by Hurricane Harvey kept their doors closed for a week or lon- ger, and 65% of those affected by Hurricane Irma. The hurricanes also exacer- 110 TileLetter | December 2017