Confidence is improving

The American Hardware Manufacturers Association (AHMA) compiles a Home Improvement Industry Confidence Index on a regular basis from two separate indexes. The Current Situation Index rose 29.1 points from June’s figure to total 70.8 (October 2008 = 100) in July 2009. Expectations of future developments have also improved: the Future Expectations Index rose 22.4 points to 184.5. As Timothy S. Farrell, President and CEO of the AHMA, said: “While we are still not out of the recessionary woods, we can at least see a brighter clearing up on the horizon.” Reasons for hope are provided by two recent indicators: GDP contracted by no more than 1 per cent in the second quarter compared with last year (-6.4 per cent in the first quarter and -5.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008), and the sale of new single-family homes rose by 11 per cent in June, according to figures from the Department of Commerce.