The Housing Crisis Ripples Across the Web
Written by Stephen Bagg (contact - e-mail) -- December 15th, 2008 |
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It’s hard these days to be a homeowner. The housing-turned-credit crisis has sharply lowered home values across the country, and the proposed solutions have focused more on major industry players than on deed holders. This week, the New York Times reports that Bernanke’s newest innovation is to lower mortgage rates to a level last seen around the time JFK was sworn in – but it would not apply to current residents looking to refinance. Yes, it’s a bleak time for homeowners, and for the businesses that depend on them. As a bellwether of the industry at large, both Home Depot and Lowes are underperforming their annual trend of site traffic from last year.
Even though absolute volume of visitors to each site is greater than last year, a 4-month comparison of month-to-month changes shows negative movement for both home improvement giants when last year that movement was better, if not positive. This trend suggests fewer homeowners are able to shop for home improvement products, let alone spend money toward them. In July, those items were more geared to summer amenities such as dehumidifier, air conditioner and ceiling fans; in October, the products of the season were warmer: insulation, fireplace and heaters.
The site conversion data supports this case. Total transactions on HomeDepot.com and Lowes.com are down from October last year, by 28% and 37% respectively.
An assessment of month-over-month change tells a worse story: last October, each site almost doubled the number of transactions from September; this October, both Home Depot and Lowes saw that number dip. As the housing market declines, it will become increasingly difficult to turn around sales for these home-focused companies. And while they will likely outlast the economic downturn, it is uncertain how much time that will take.
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December 15th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
The feds always come back with lower rates. Do they actually have any other solid ideas besides lowering rates?
December 15th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Note sure with the title choice, those figures prove the housing crisis. they are not a consequence of the housing crisis.
in current times, ripples could be change of traffic for the auto websites.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:08 am
I dont know what to do any more!
Just to hard to keep up with all this website!
December 16th, 2008 at 4:01 am
This ain’t a credit crisis any longer. Its now a full blown recession. I mean, when Detroit’s auto industry is on the edge of bankruptcy, you can hardly say that this is a crisis limited to real estate and mortgages and loans.
A friend of mine who’s a loan originator tell me that real estate is ready for a rebound, but the media is no negative that no one is even willing to consider that real estate might start climbing now. Bernanke trying to lower mortgage rates is probably in the hope that the sector takes off, and helps improve sentiment. If that doesn’t work, Home Depot and Lowes are going to see a lot less customers in 2009.
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