Home Depot, a bellwether of the housing market and US economy, said sales dropped over the winter and it’s a expecting a slow 2024. Sales at stores open for at least one year fell 3.5% last quarter, and Home Depot projects that sales will continue to decline 1% in 2024. “2023 was a year of moderation,” Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said in a news release Tuesday. Demand for home improvement has fallen due to high mortgage rates and a slowdown in new home construction. “One of the main issues [for Home Depot] continues to be a very sluggish housing market,” Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData Retail, said in a note to clients Tuesday.

Source: CNN February 20, 2024 13:41 UTC