New residential furniture orders were down roughly 26% in March compared to 2021 figures, according to the latest Furniture Insights survey. Year-to-date orders were down 21%.
Although new orders fell 20% in February compared to 2021, it's "not all that bad" considering 2021 figures were up 24% over February 2020, the last month before the pandemic set in, said Ken Smith, managing partner at Smith Leonard.
Even with the 12% decline in new residential furniture orders in the January year-over-year comparison, an estimated 55% of the residential furniture manufacturers and distributors participating in the monthly survey reported increased orders for the month.
Year-to-date orders for residential furniture were up 16% over the 2020 period for 77% of the residential furniture manufacturers and distributors participating in the monthly survey. Shipments were up 23% YTD according to January's Furniture Insights.
Although new residential furniture orders dropped 14% in August compared to 2020 figures, they are up 30% over 2019 figures. Year-to-date new orders are up double-digits over both 2020 and 2019 figures, according to the latest issue of Furniture Insights.
This marks the first time since June 2020 that new orders were down from the same month in the previous year, according to Smith Leonard's latest Furniture Insights.
The 7% rise in June 2021 new orders is especially notable considering June 2020 was up 30% over 2019. This marks 13 straight months of year-over-year growth, as reported by Smith Leonard in the latest issue of Furniture Insights.