Painting & Wall Covering Contractors
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 37,000 painting and wall covering contractors in the US apply paint, stain, coatings, and wall coverings to walls, buildings, bridges, and other structures. Companies may specialize in a particular type of application, such as residential, industrial, or decorative painting. Other services include pressure washing, deck finishing, wood staining, drywall finishing, and exterior waterproofing/sealing.
Risk Of Injury And Illness
Workers are constantly working at heights that require ladders, scaffolding, lifts, or harnesses.
Dependence On The Construction Industry And Economy
Demand for painting and wall covering services is closely tied to the health of the construction industry, which is influenced by the state of the economy.
Industry size & Structure
The average paint and wall covering contractor operates out of a single location, employs 6 workers, and generates about $676,000 annually.
- The paint and wall covering contractor industry consists of about 37,000 establishments that employ about 205,000 workers and generate about $25 billion annually.
- The industry is highly fragmented; the majority of firms are small, independent operators. Many painting and wall covering contractors are self-employed.
- Large companies, such as the Brock Group, offer industrial painting as part of a larger portfolio of services.
Industry Forecast
Painting & Wall Covering Contractors Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Sep 18, 2024 - Single-Family Home Sales Rise
- New single-family home sales rose 10.6% month-over-month and were up 5.9% year-over-year in July 2024, according to the US Department of Commerce. July’s rise in home sales marked the biggest gain in more than a year as interest rates moved lower. For the week ending September 12, the average fixed-rate 30-year mortgage rate was 6.2%, down from 7.18% a year earlier. Housing industry observers expect mortgage rates to continue trending downward amid anticipated interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, according to Reuters. However, high home prices remain an obstacle for many would-be buyers. The median new home sales price in July 2024 was $429,800, up 3.1% from June but down 1.4 compared to July 2023.
- High interest rates have increased the costs for new multifamily construction and reduced property values, prompting some developers to halt or delay projects, according to The Wall Street Journal. Multifamily housing starts involving five or more units fell 21.8% in July compared to July 2023 and were down 41% from their April 2022 peak. The drop in starts follows a boom in apartment building that began during the pandemic. This year, about 610,000 apartment units are expected to come online, the most in any year since the 1980s, according to data firm CoStar. However, as financing new projects has become costlier, CoStar expects new apartment supplies to slip to fewer than 350,000 units in 2025 and 275,000 in 2026. The influx of new apartment building has created an oversupply in some regions, leading to lower property values and weak rent growth, which has reduced developer and investor appetite for new projects.
- In the second quarter of 2024, there were about 23,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) housing starts in the US, up nearly 10% from the same period in 2023, according to National Association of Home Builders analysis of US Census Bureau data. During the four most recent quarters, 83,000 SFBFR homes began construction, which is up more than 20% compared to how many were built in the previous four-quarter period. While the historical four-quarter moving average market share for SFBFR is about 2.7% (1992-2012), SFBFR’s current share of the overall single-family market is about 8%. Single-family built-for-rent homes provide an alternative for consumers who want more space but are challenged by a lack of affordable housing inventory and downpayment requirements in the for-sale market.
- Total nonresidential building construction spending is projected to rise 6% in 2024 over 2023, according to FMI’s third-quarter 2024 North American Engineering and Construction Outlook. With growth of 28%, public safety will lead 2024 nonresidential building construction, followed by manufacturing (21%), educational (7%), and religious (7%). Some other segments of the nonresidential building sector face headwinds. Commercial construction spending is expected to decline 7% in 2024 amid weaker demand for warehousing space, high interest rates, and tighter lending standards. Lodging construction spending is forecast to drop 6% as consumer budgets tighten and hotel occupancies wane, especially near the market's lower tier. Stubbornly high office vacancies will continue to weigh on new office construction, which is projected to see flat spending in 2024. Despite high interest rates, single-family construction spending is forecast to rise 7% in 2024 as homebuilders reduce home sizes to improve affordability. Spending for multifamily is expected to decline by 1% in 2024 after projects in development peaked at 1 million units in mid-2023. Home improvement project spending will rise 4% in 2024 as homeowners primarily focus on maintenance and repairs amid high materials costs and interest rates.
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