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The Home Improvement Research Institute’s October 2026 economic update reports that rolling 12-month sales at building materials, garden equipment and supplies dealers reached $520.5 billion in August, the highest level in its 25-month tracking period. The report also records a seventh consecutive monthly rise in mortgage rates, falling consumer confidence and continued difficulty for contractors closing business and keeping scheduled jobs.
The Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) reported record tracked sales at building materials, garden equipment and supplies dealers in its October economic update, while also noting rising mortgage rates, weaker consumer confidence and ongoing contractor challenges. Rolling 12-month sales reached $520.5 billion in August 2026, the highest reading in the 25 months covered by the report.
The 30-year mortgage rate rose to 6.86% in September, marking its seventh straight monthly increase and its highest point since January 2025, according to HIRI’s summary of the update. The report does not give a rate forecast, but the rise is one of several indicators it identifies as relevant to home improvement demand.
Consumer confidence also weakened. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell 7.6% in September to 81.9, its lowest reading in the 25 months tracked, HIRI reported. That measure provides a separate signal of household sentiment; the update does not establish that the decline directly caused any change in home improvement spending.
Contractors reported difficulty converting prospects into work. Among those reporting sales challenges, 45% cited closing new business, compared with 23% in the second quarter of 2026. Separately, 54% postponed or cancelled scheduled jobs in Q3, down from 60% in Q2 but above the 30% reported for Q3 2025.
Sales Growth Meets Market Pressures
The figures present a mixed picture for the home improvement sector. The $520.5 billion rolling sales total suggests that sales across the specified dealer categories remained strong through August, even as higher borrowing costs and lower consumer confidence point to potential pressure on future demand.
Mortgage rates matter to homeowners weighing financed projects and to housing activity more broadly, while confidence readings offer a snapshot of consumers’ outlook. The contractor data adds a business-level concern: more respondents identified difficulty closing new work than in the previous quarter, and postponed or cancelled jobs remained well above the level recorded a year earlier.
These measures do not show that the entire industry is growing or shrinking uniformly. The update’s sales figure covers a rolling 12-month period and particular dealer categories; contractor responses describe reported challenges, not a complete count of all businesses or projects. Taken together, however, the indicators show why a record sales reading alone may not capture the conditions facing every company in the market.
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The Update’s Measured Indicators
HIRI’s October 2026 Economic & Industry Update is a monthly report covering general economic data, housing-market data and home improvement-market data. It evaluates selected economic indicators and their potential influence on the home improvement market, according to the report description published by Hardware Retailing.
The report’s headline sales measure is a rolling 12-month total, not sales in August alone. HIRI said the $520.5 billion reading was the highest in the 25 months it tracked. Its other figures refer to different periods: the mortgage rate and confidence index are for September, while contractor postponements and cancellations are for Q3 and the business-closing comparison is with Q2 2026.
The supplied summary identifies five findings but does not provide the full report’s methodology or supporting tables. Hardware Retailing said readers can access the complete update by becoming HIRI members.
Limits of the Published Summary
The published summary does not specify how HIRI calculated or collected the contractor responses, how many contractors took part, or whether the respondents represent particular regions or business types. It also does not provide detailed category-level sales figures or explain how much of the sales total reflects prices rather than the number of products sold.
The data establishes that mortgage rates rose and confidence fell during the periods cited, but it does not establish that either change caused contractor cancellations or altered dealer sales. The update’s broader assessment and supporting evidence are not included in the supplied summary, so the relationship among these indicators remains unclear.
Full Report and Future Readings
The next step for readers seeking detail is to consult HIRI’s full October update, which the publisher says is available to HIRI members. It may provide the underlying data, definitions and analysis needed to interpret the reported sales and contractor figures more fully.
Subsequent monthly readings will show whether dealer sales remain at the August level, whether mortgage rates continue rising and whether consumer confidence changes. Later contractor data will also indicate whether the Q3 decline in postponed or cancelled jobs continues, and whether reported difficulty closing new business persists.
Key Questions
What did HIRI report about home improvement-related sales?
HIRI said rolling 12-month sales at building materials, garden equipment and supplies dealers reached $520.5 billion in August 2026, the highest level in its 25-month tracking period.
How did mortgage rates change?
The 30-year mortgage rate reached 6.86% in September 2026. HIRI described this as the seventh consecutive monthly increase and the highest level since January 2025.
What contractor challenges did the update identify?
Among contractors reporting sales challenges, 45% cited closing new business, up from 23% in Q2 2026. In Q3, 54% postponed or cancelled scheduled jobs, compared with 60% in Q2 and 30% in Q3 2025.
Did HIRI say higher rates caused cancellations?
No such causal link appears in the published summary. It reports both rising mortgage rates and contractor job disruptions, but does not establish that one caused the other.
Where can readers find the complete update?
Hardware Retailing says the full HIRI update is available to people who become HIRI members. The published summary does not include the report’s full methodology or detailed tables.
Source: hardwareretailing.com
