Hurricane Sandy and Home Renovators - The Perfect Storm for Home Depot

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Before Hurricane Sandy rocked the Northeast, Home Depot was taking advantage of high stock prices (a 66% increase over the past year, to be exact!). In fact, thanks to eager home renovators, the store was experiencing its highest stock prices in more than a decade. Now, Sandy's aftermath is causing an even higher stock surge.

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Home renovation trends for 2013

If you're an investor, you'll be happy to see that Home Depot's stock is up about 2% since Sandy hit. It may not seem like a major jump, but those gains are expected to keep rising steadily for the foreseeable future, as more and more Sandy victims fix the damage that the superstorm left behind. In fact, thanks to Sandy, Home Depot made more than $18 billion in sales during the 3rd quarter. Home Depot saw a similar jump in sales in 2011, after Hurricane Irene hit the east coast, and the home improvement giant is planning on watching its stock reach even newer heights in 2013.

How should you pay for your home renovations?

However, Home Depot isn't even factoring the Sandy boost into its 4th quarter projections – and it still plans on seeing big gains. Why? Because it plans on seeing so many home renovators walk through the doors over the next few months. And luckily for Home Depot, recent research backs that prediction up. According to the results of a survey released last week by Piper Jaffray, 48% of homeowners plan to spend more on home improvements in 2013 than they did in 2012 – and this year was a big one for renovations. That means the number of renovations could be sky-high next year! While that number includes people who absolutely-positively-have-to make improvements to their home (like for safety reasons, for example), the vast majority of people who will be taking on renovation projects next year will be doing so because they want to. In fact, according to the Piper Jaffray study, a whopping 75% of those surveyed plan on starting some type of "discretionary" home renovation project in 2013. And that means many of them will flock to Home Depot for the supplies!

Why home renovation spending is going up

There's also something else working in Home Depot's favor right now – new constructions. Since more and more builders are starting to break ground on new homes around the country, Home Depot is beginning to see more of a surge in business from contractors and other professionals. That's good news for the housing market AND Home Depot stockholders! What about Lowe's? After all, Home Depot and Lowe's basically have a duopoly on the home improvement market. While Walmart has tried to make an impact, they haven't been able to topple the 1-2 punch that Home Depot and Lowe's offer. Right now, Lowe's is still a solid number-two behind Home Depot. All of those busy home renovators have caused Lowe's stock prices to jump 45% this year, and that increase is expected to continue into 2013. And, like their biggest competitor, Lowe's saw a big jump in sales after Hurricane Sandy. Bottom line – if you're planning on doing any work on your home anytime soon, you're in good company! Luckily, you'll be able to count on two thriving retail giants to have everything you need to get the job done.
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Media Contact: Daniel Torelli RealtyPin.com, 514-836-1432, daniel@realtypin.com

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SOURCE RealtyPin

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