It’s hard to commit to financing a new home or renovation project if you’re not sure you’ll have a job to pay for it.
Economic concerns like job losses and overall affordability continue to weigh on home improvement retailers, including Home Depot, which reported nearly flat comparable sales growth for both the quarter and full fiscal year on Tuesday.
“Continued consumer uncertainty: That’s still the number one reason why people are telling us, our customers are telling us that they’re not investing, certainly, in large projects,” CEO Ted Decker said on an earnings call.
“That has everything to do with consumer confidence and sentiment, jobs, picture, overall price levels and affordability in the economy,” he added.
Home renovation activity typically corresponds to housing sales, but the combination of high prices and low existing mortgage rates has largely…
