eReal Household Furniture Spending in US Forecast to Grow by 23.8% from $71.7 bn in 2003 to $88.7 bn in 2013

Furniture World Magazine

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c16984 ) has announced the addition of American Demand for Household Furniture and Trends to their offering. The 2003 value of the furniture market in the United States amounted to an estimated $71.6 billion measured at retail prices. Of this, 37.8% is upholstered furniture (mainly chesterfields and matching chairs), 44.0% is wooden case-goods (mainly bedroom furniture), 12.5% is mattresses and foundations, and the remaining 5.8% is metal furniture (mainly outdoor furniture). This book analyzes the economic and demographic forces impacting the demand for household furniture. The study is finely segregated by product categories and geographical regions. Forecasts are provided to 2013. The author of the book comes to some interesting and unexpected conclusions which need to be taken into account to gain a thorough appreciation of the present and future course of the American furniture demand. Measured at manufacturers' prices domestic household furniture sales reached an estimated $34.0 billion in 2003 or about 47.5% of the total dollars spent by U.S. households on furniture. The $37.6 billion difference between the prices received at the retail level and the prices received at the manufacturers' level represents a combination of transportation costs, wages and other costs at the retail level, the retailer's profit margin, plus all sales taxes. Over the last two decades household furniture purchases increased significantly from $23.8 billion in 1983 to $71.6 billion in 2003, or more than three times. In other words, sales increased at an average annual pace of 6.1% over this period. However, growth has been much slower recently, and in 2003 growth of household furniture sales was only 2.7%. Some of the growth during the past 20 years was due to rising prices. If expressed in constant 2000-dollar terms, the increase between 1983 and 2003 was 2.6 times, that is from $ 29.0 billion to $ 75.4 billion. The number of households in the United States will grow by about 11.5% over the next decade (that is slightly less than 1.0% per year). This pace is a bit faster than the 10.2% pace for the total population. We expect real disposable income per household will also increase by about 12.3% (or slightly more than 1% per year) over that period. Thus total real disposable income will grow by about 23.8% between 2003 and 2013. Based on these assumptions, it is expected furniture spending growth will continue throughout the projection horizon, slowing from an annual rate averaging around 3.3% in 2005 to a rate of 2.0% from 2006 to 2008, 1.5% on 2009 and 2010, and only 1.0% from 2011 to 2013. Thus, real household furniture spending - in constant 2003 dollars - will grow by 23.8% from $71.7 billion in 2003 to $88.7 billion in 2013.