NKBA and John Burns Launch Kitchen & Bath Market Index

The National Kitchen and Bath Association has partnered with John Burns Real Estate Consulting to create a new survey-based market index for the kitchen & bath industry. The NKBA/John Burns Kitchen & Bath Market Index (KBMI) will be calculated on a quarterly basis, with the first results available today for the fourth quarter of 2018.

The KBMI is based on online survey data from NKBA members across three metrics: the respondent’s last quarter sales growth compared to the same quarter in the prior year, expectations for the next quarter’s sales compared to the same quarter in the prior year, and the respondent’s view of the overall health of the industry.

The inaugural KBMI, 69.2, suggests that the survey’s 563 respondents are “generally optimistic” about the kitchen and bath industry across all member segments, says Dianne M. Pogoda, creative content manager for the NKBA. Overall, members expect sales to rise 6.6% in 2019, up slightly over their actual growth of 5.6% in 2018. The biggest industry challenges noted in the survey include sacrificing quality for low price, imports pressuring prices, and material and labor costs.

The next edition of the KBMI will be available in May for the first quarter of 2019. The first edition of the Index may be accessed from the NKBA Market Research catalog.