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Washington, DC, August 20, 2026—After three consecutive quarters of modest improvement, housing affordability declined in the second quarter as higher mortgage rates, rising construction costs and economic uncertainty weighed on the market.
Seattle, WA, August 20, 2026—Amid rising inflation and childcare costs, families today face another affordability hurdle: rent burden. A new Zillow and StreetEasy analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data shows that approximately one in three family households with children under the age of 18 today are renting their home, and more than half of those families (54.1%) are…
Washington, DC, August 20, 2026—INSTALL, the North American leader in floorcovering installation training and certification, has significantly expanded recognition of its apprenticeship and workforce training in the western United States in response to contractor demand and skilled labor needs across the flooring industry.
Dalton, GA, August 19, 2026—Southwind Floors has strengthened its sales organization with the addition of Gavin Miller, Andy Friedlander and Rick Davis as territory managers and Jody Clayton as inside sales manager.
Mooresville, NC, August 19, 2026—Lowe’s reported Q2 2026 sales were $26.0 billion, an 8.3% increase compared to $24.0 billion in the prior-year quarter. Comp sales for Q2 increased 0.2% driven by strong performance in Pro and home services sales, as well as a 15.7% increase in online sales, partially offset by persistent DIY macro pressures....
Washington, DC, August 19, 2026—The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for July was 46.6, signaling a modest decline from June.
Washington, DC, August 19, 2026— Mortgage applications in the United States declined 0.4% on a weekly basis in the week ending August 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Chattanooga, TN, August 19, 2026—The submission period for the first annual Jim Walker Flooring Installer Award has been extended until August 21.
Madison, WI, August 19, 2026—Jaeckle Distributors has announced a new partnership with Kährs to distribute the Kährs offering of wood flooring and luxury vinyl tile products throughout the Midwest.
Portsmouth, NH, August 19, 2026—The Q2 2026 Global Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE) reveals that the global hotel construction pipeline reaches a new all-time high project count with 15,976 projects/2,433,948 rooms.
