Wood flooring sales fell by an estimated 8.3% in dollars and square feet in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the latest quarterly update by Catalina Research.
The decline was due largely to a sharp drop in housing demand, as single-family home starts fell more than 20.0% during the fourth quarter and existing home sales dropped nearly 30.0%.
Because wood flooring has the flooring industry’s highest dependence on the builder market, it had the largest sales declines compared with other floor coverings at the end of the year.
For all of 2022, wood flooring dollar sales increased approximately 7.3% compared with 2021 to $4.6 billion, bolstered by 2022’s strong first two quarters. Square foot sales of wood flooring declined 2.5% to 1.6 billion in 2022.
Wood flooring produced in the U.S. represented 51.0% of total square foot sales in the fourth quarter, up 6.4% compared with the same period in 2021. “U.S. manufacturers also became more price competitive as import prices increased sharply and domestic lumber prices dropped,” the report stated.
Catalina Research predicted continued sales declines for the first quarter of 2023, with square foot sales projected to fall 7.9% as housing demand continues on a downward trajectory.