Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Which major factors influence the market for woodworkers in the construction industry, and what projects are being undertaken to improve their skills? To put things in perspective, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, the total value of private construction (residential and nonresidential) installed in the United States was close to $1.7 trillion in 2024 ($1,663,000 million), up 5.7% from 2023. Except for multi-family buildings, gains in every sector drove this increase. In particular, in 2024, expenditures rose for nonresidential building (5.5%), residential upgrades (9.8%), and single-family homes (7.2%). The first decline in multi-family building spending since 2011 occurred when spending fell 6.9%.
Following decreases in the two years prior, the number of single-family dwelling units began in 2024 was 1,012,900, a 6.9% rise from 2023. The number of single-family starts is still far lower than the 2005 peak of about 1,716,000 units. In 2024, there were 354,200 multi-family starts, a 25.0% decrease from 2023. In light of this, the 16th annual housing market survey was carried out in early 2025 to evaluate the state of the market for secondary woodworking manufacturers operating in the building industry and associated fields. Analysis of the changes since the previous year is presented, together with information on the present state and operations of manufacturers.
Sales and markets served changes
As the industry progressed away from the market recovery linked to the alleviation of COVID-related interruptions, the number of companies reporting an annual drop in sales volume rose significantly between 2021 and 2023. 30% of respondents said that sales were worse in 2024, compared to 42% the previous year, indicating a dip in the number of businesses reporting a drop in sales volume. This proportion is nevertheless higher than the comparatively low levels observed between 2014 and 2018, when it was closer to 20% per year.
The deterioration in the housing and renovation markets, as well as respondents’ opinions of the overall status of the economy, were the main causes of their 2024 sales volume drop. Remodeling and housing downturns received reasonably high scores as causes of sales volume losses for the third year in a row. Similar to previous years, competition from non-wood alternatives and offshore competition were identified as moderately modest sources of sales reductions. According to the respondents, the market was not favorable for luring new competitors because there were no more domestic rivals joining the market, and lowering sales volumes were declining.
In 2024, 52% of respondents indicated growth in sales volume, while 18% claimed no change, despite 30% reporting a decrease. They largely credited their success to increases in market share for their businesses and goods, as well as growth in the economy as a whole. Many respondents were taking particular measures, even if these factors are broad, and indicate that they generally feel they go in the same direction as the economy as a whole. For instance, the number of businesses offering new services and product lines increased significantly. In 2024, productivity gains were still cited as a major factor in rising sales volumes.
The majority of the production volume (61%–100%) for 30% of respondents in the 2024 research was related to renovation and repair. In the other markets, the corresponding percentages were 8% for multi-family, 10% for nonresidential construction, and 28% for single-family housing. In the secondary woodworking business, this highlights the relative importance of single-family dwelling building and repair, and remodeling (i.e., fewer wood items are normally used in trimming multi-family and nonresidential construction). Just 14% and 10% of respondents, respectively, reported having no commercial activity in the single-family housing and repair and remodeling markets in 2024. In the multi-family sector, the proportion of businesses with no business activity has similarly been on the decline, falling to 22% in 2024.
Another market opportunity for secondary woodworkers to take advantage of is green construction supplies. However, the percentage of respondents who said they had observed a rise in consumer interest in sourcing items that adhered to green building standards programs had either decreased or stayed constant during the majority of survey years. Of those surveyed, 27% said they had observed a rise this year. The majority of respondents (53%) still said they had not noticed a rise, and 20% were unsure if there had been a rise in interest in green products.
Made-to-order (MTO) manufacture is still in high demand. Compared to 47% in 2023 and 60% in 2024, 61% of respondents in 2025 said that MTO production accounted for more than four-fifths of their total product mix. 72% of respondents said that more than 60% of their sales in 2025 would come from domestically sourced and/or produced goods, demonstrating their domestic focus. On the other hand, over the previous five years, 35% of respondents said their product lines had used more wood imports (either lumber/components, completed products, or both). Additionally, the industry is still aiming for higher price points; according to 65% of respondents, they operated at medium-high to high price points in 2025.
Investment activities that are planned
Like last year, 50% of respondents said they will spend more money in 2025 than they did in 2024 on investments in efficiency and capability enhancements, while 22% said they would spend less. A further 28% expressed uncertainty, which is comparable to previous years and suggests that between 25% and 33% of respondents have often been unsure of their companies’ annual investment plans (Figure 5). 44% of respondents said their companies would spend less than $250,000 over the next three years, the lowest amount for that group since 2015.
The main categories and regions where investments were anticipated over the following three years were also evaluated by the study. A number of manufacturing-based investments continue to rank close to the top of the list, as they have in previous years. Additionally, manufacturing companies continue to have a significant need for employee training. The highest scoring categories for this year’s survey were sales force expansion/development (32%), panel processing (34%), solid wood processing (30%), and employee training (40%). The latter showed a significant increase over prior years, which may suggest that businesses must put in more effort to produce sales in the current climate. Solid wood processing was down 7 percentage points from the previous year, although it had a comparatively high score. E-commerce was another noteworthy area of growth.
The question of whether their companies have used computerization more in various functional areas during the last three years was posed to the respondents. In particular, design (78%), manufacturing processes (72%), and accounting (60%), all of which achieved the highest percentages on record, witnessed increases compared to the previous year (Figure 7). Despite a decline after 2022, inventory tracking has increased compared to the study’s previous years.
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