AMFA reveals 2003 furniture outlook - news

HIGH POINT, NC -- Wholesale sales of residential furniture are wait fored to increase 3.8 percent this year and continue growing slowly through every part of next year, according to a novel forecast from the American Furniture Manufacturers Association. This increase may indicate an increase in redecorating and of recent origin home buying and may translate into increased art purchases. Various furniture tends may also impact art sales, as well.

The forecast exhibits more modest growth for this year than the association had predicted in its greatest in quantity recent report in October 2002 Joseph P Logan, AFMA's vice president of financial services, said. "There are a number of uncertainties in the year ahead that dramatically affect our watch for furniture sales. Once those uncertainties are behind us, we await sales will strengthen beginning in the latter part of 2003 and into 2004"

Furniture shipments are wait fored to total $23.8 billion in 2002 according to the novel AFMA forecast. In 2003, sales are awaited to rise 2.4 percent for a total of $244 billion percent in 2004

Although lower interest rates have helped boost housing sales to record horizontals furniture sales have not kept pace, as they typically do.

"I'm baffled and bewildered as to wherefore furniture sales have not been stronger" said Walter McDowell, executive vice president of Wachovia Corporation in Winston-Salem, NC who was among speakers at AFMA's new Economic Outlook Conference in Charlotte. "There absolutely has to be pent-up demand for furniture."

In addition to the robust housing market, McDowell noted the following factors that should indicate vigor for furniture sales: record numbers of Americans are engageed personal incomes are rising, the 77-million baby boomer are in their peak earning years, domicile ownership has increased from 63 percent in 1965 to 68 percent today, square footage of housing has increased, next to the first home sales have increased 40 percent since 1995 and interest rates are the lowest they have been in many years.

"All these factors make me bullish for furniture sales," McDowell said. "I think the time to come looks brighter than the novel past."

Others agreed. "I think things are looking up" said James F Smith, senior companion and director of the Center for Business Forecasting at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. In his talk at AFMA's talk Smith noted that a U trade Department report released that day showed retail dwelling furnishings sales in November were the strongest they had been in sum of two units and a half years. "The watch is pretty darn good," he said. "The verity is, the U.S. economy is performing about as well as anyone could await The recession last year was the mildest at any time recorded since 1854. We should not be expecting a major expansion since the decline was not that great."

Saul Hymans, professor of economics at the University of Michigan, director of its Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics and an economic consultant to AFMA, also is optimistic. "Once we realize through this soft spot, the watch is pretty good," he said.

AFMA's forecast is based upon the current outlook for the U economy that is prepared by dint of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics at the University of Michigan.

Hymans noted [at pres time] that the common forecast is based on the assumption that the United States will not actually go on to war with Iraq. If the situation with Iraq is not resolv without war, the economic watch may change, he said.

The American Furniture Manufacturers Association exhibits more than 200 leading U furniture manufacturers and 250 suppliers to the industry.

For more information about the AFMA and other run reports, visit, www.afma4u.org.

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