Shield Wall Media, with help from METALCON and the MCA, has completed the mid-year State of the Industry Survey. The purpose of the mid-year survey is to measure changes in market sentiment from the previous survey. Rather than focus on an entire year, this survey focused on year to date and predictions for Q3 and Q4 2023. 

With a few exceptions, the general expectation is still positive, but slightly less so than in the October 2022 survey.  

The number of shed and carport builders/sellers predicting an increase in units of over 25% dropped from 16% to 0%. The number predicting similar sales increased from 34% to 40% and the number predicting a slight decline increased from 14% to 20%. This is reflected, but not as dramatically, in both gross sales and profitability.

Interestingly the perceived worsening of all sales metrics did not translate to a view of the general economy. The percentage of shed and carport builders/sellers thinking the general economy is improving increased while the number predicting it staying the same or decreasing declined. GSCB