NKBA/John Burns Kitchen & Bath Market Index (KBMI) – Q2 2021

K&B Market Index Builds on a Record Q1, but not without Concerns

The NKBA/John Burns Kitchen & Bath Market Index (KBMI) is a quarterly gauge of current and future economic conditions within the kitchen & bath industry. A total of 524 NKBA members across industry segments, including design, building and construction, manufacturing and retail sales,  participated. Results are compared with each of the four previous quarters to tease out trends. Along with various economic variables and notable industry shifts, the report delves into the most pressing challenges and includes both member concerns and those of their clients.

Key Takeaways
The overall K&B index of 82.3 easily topped last quarter’s record 79.8, extremely impressive given that any score above 50 indicates industry expansion.
Current conditions of 85.7 also blew past the previous high of 78.0 set last quarter.
Members are more cautious regarding future conditions, not because they believe it will worsen, but based on the expectation that growth will begin to moderate from the current torrid pace.
Full-year sales are now expected to exceed 2020 by 14.5%, an upward revision from the 13.4% consensus forecast last quarter.
Both supply chain delays and skilled labor shortages continue to worsen, with the former registering an 8.4 of ten in severity and the latter a 7.9 vs. the previous 8.0 and 7.5.

Additional Topics Covered
Backlogs and pipelines by K&B segment
Shifts in design element preferences by clients
Specific operational successes/challenges by segment
Verbatim quotes for color on client/segment interaction
Latest impact of COVID-19 on the industry