New homebuyers often need furniture, drapes and appliances after they close, but those costs are up over 15% due to supply-chain issues.
NEW YORK – Inflation surged 7.5% in the last year – the biggest gain since 1982, the Labor Department reported Thursday – and the rise in consumer costs is hitting remodeling contractors and builders especially hard. It’s also impacting homebuyers, notably first-timers, who need to outfit their new home.
It’s not just 7.5% either. The prices for household furnishings are climbing faster than most other goods, up 1.6% in January month-to-month and up 9.3% year-to-year, according to the Labor Department.
Top home-product price increases year-to-year
- Living room/kitchen/dining room furniture: up 19.9%
- Furniture/bedding: up 17%
- Window coverings: up 16.2%
- Bedroom furniture: up 13.7%
- Appliances: up 8.5%
- Floor coverings: up 7.2%
- Clocks, lamps and decorative items: 6.3% higher
“With an increased focus on the home due to the pandemic, home prices rising to the highest on record (nearly 20% year over year), and materials prices in some cases 400% higher or more than their pre-pandemic levels, the major growth in total consumer spending on home improvement should not come as a surprise,” says Mischa Fisher, chief economist at Angi, a home remodeling website.
Source: “Here’s How Inflation Is Hitting Everything You Buy for Your Home,” CNBC (Feb. 10, 2022)
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