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issue: June 2012 ApplianceMagazine.com
Average Kitchen Remodel Tops $30,000
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The positive results from the first three months of 2012 left North American kitchen/bath dealers feeling optimistic, and forecasting another good quarter. |
The NKBA Kitchen & Bath Market Index (KBMI) was at +29 in the first quarter of 2012, down just slightly from +32 in the fourth quarter of 2011. The National Kitchen & Bath Association forecasts the kitchen and bath market to show continued improvement in 2Q 2012, although more modest than in the first quarter.
The National Kitchen & Bath Association index measures the confidence of kitchen and bath dealers on a scale of -60 (extreme pessimism) to +60 (extreme optimism). NKBA said the 4Q 2011 Index of +32 accurately forecast a strong 1Q 2012. It followed an index of +9 for 3Q 2011, which NKBA said correctly predicted a weak 4Q.
NKBA prepares the report based on the responses of some 200 kitchen and bath dealers in the United States and Canada.
Number of Kitchen Remodels Up, Forecast is for More Increases
Among the findings in NKBA's report on the first quarter of 2012: The number of homeowners beginning a kitchen remodel showed a significant increase in the first quarter of 2012, up more than 50%, and coming on the heels of a 20% decrease in 4Q 2011.
The average NKBA dealership member reported 9.6 kitchen remodels in Q1 2012, and the second-highest single-month level average since NKBA began the index in 2008. The highest quarter was 12.3 in 1Q 2010.
Even after the 1Q 2012 increase in kitchen remodel sales, 67% of NKBA dealers expect kitchen remodel sales to increase more in through June of 2012. This is slightly fewer than the number who foresaw increases in the previous quarter's report, but NKBA still calls it a positive indicator.
Only 4% expect the number of remodels to decrease, and 30 percent expect the number to remain the same.
The fourth quarter of 2011 saw an 11% decline in the average kitchen remodel budget, but the trend reversed in the first quarter of 2012, with the average budget for a kitchen remodel up 6% to $30,325. That's up 11% from the same quarter in 2011.
The NKBA report showed 66% of NKBA member dealers expect kitchen remodel budgets to remain the same in the second quarter of 2012, while 31% forecast even higher budgets. Only 2% of dealers expect kitchen budgets to get smaller.
Bathroom Remodels
Bathroom remodels saw a big jump in average budget amount in the third quarter of 2011 to a healthy $14,638 - and have hardly moved since. The average budget in 1Q 2012 was $14,625. Most dealers - 70% - expect budgets to remain at that level in the second quarter of 2012. 28% of dealers forecast even bigger budgets. Only 1% of dealers expected bathroom remodel budgets to shrink.
