Despite headwinds, those that renovate kitchens and bathrooms in houses throughout the country had a good first quarter and are on target for a good full year.

The first quarter of 2022’s Kitchen & Bath Market Index was announced by the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA), and it revealed 12.6% growth year over year.

Bill Darcy, the organization’s CEO, said: “Despite a lot of current economic challenges, from material shortages to increasing labor prices, we’re delighted to see our business continue to develop and be hopeful about the future.”

As the world changes, the kitchen and bath sector has evolved to keep up with the times.

According to the research, demand for renovation projects has remained high even as price points have increased. Manufacturers (up 10.3%) lead all industrial categories in year-over-year increase.

Professionals now anticipate a 15.1-percent rise for the year in 2022 instead of the 9.4-percent growth that was projected only three months prior.

The kitchen and bath sector scored future business conditions 78.6 out of 100 in the most recent KBMI study, indicating moderate confidence for the sector’s future.

However, as customers use their home equity and other discretionary money to “trade up in place,” large renovation projects have benefited from rising borrowing rates and low resale inventory, which have been headwinds for house sales.

Even if increased inflationary pressures would drive some homes out of the market, the industry reported a strong amount of backlogged projects, giving the sector reason to be optimistic about the future.

All indications now point to 2022 being another healthy year for the sector, Darcy added, “despite the persistent headwinds and possibly unforeseen issues ahead.”

Industry specialists in the kitchen and bathroom sectors have reported significant delays to their projects as a result of the current global material scarcity. In the first quarter of 2022, 43% of building and construction companies reported that the majority of their projects were behind schedule.

Pre-ordering has been a common strategy used by businesses to attempt and stay ahead of projects, but many have been unable to meet deadlines due to industry-wide backorders and shipment delays.

Customer cancellations owing to lengthy deadlines are another effect of these material delays; in the first quarter, 46 percent of building and construction businesses experienced client cancellations and/or postponements. Although there has been a modest improvement from the 50% cancellation/postponement rate in the previous quarter, the pattern is still troubling for the sector going forward.

According to the first-quarter poll, shoppers once again place luxury goods as their top choice. The longest wait periods are associated with these goods, nevertheless.

Industry experts rated the overall impact of labor availability as having a 6.7 on a 10-point scale, reporting that it significantly affects their firms and their capacity to meet demand.

In order to maintain and/or recruit talent, business owners in the sector are hiking rates by an average of 18 percent.