Western Market Share
A Look at Roofing Product Market Share in the West
by Marc Dodson, Editor
It’s been said before that the roofing industry is fairly constant. Unlike many other construction trades that focus almost exclusively on new construction, people will always need to repair or replace the roof over their heads. With the uncertain economy on everyone’s mind, reroofing and roofing repair is, and will always be, a high-demand skill.
Our annual reader survey of product market share indicates that while Western roofing contractors are cautious, they are still optimistic about the immediate future. The market share of the individual products shows an increase in products designed for the reroofing market.
The pandemic of several years ago made a huge change in workforce habits. About 67% of home-based workers stated they would rather not return to an office environment, and 40% of those stated they would switch jobs if required to go back the office. Ever since computers became common items in the home decades ago, working remotely has been discussed. Now it has become a reality.
Remodeling, improving, and expanding the home office has turned into big business and Western roofing contractors are taking advantage of the situation where they can. Unfortunately, material shortages, rising prices, lack of employees, and now mounting interest rates aren’t helping matters. The Associated General Contractors of America recently reported that two-thirds of the country increased the number of construction projects the last few months. Luckily, most of these states are in the West.
Steep-Slope & Low-Slope
As mentioned, reroofing will again make up the majority of the steep-slope market this year. While the housing market is flat in some areas and mortgage rates are on the rise, sales of existing homes across most of the West continues at a brisk, if slightly slower, pace.
Whereas new low-slope construction is slowing, reroofing and recovering will account for the majority of growth this year. The low-slope market is expected to capture about 54% of the total this year with steep-slope taking about 46%, a slight decrease for the commercial portion of the pie.
Overall, the projected 2024 market is 20% for new construction, 55% reroofing, and 25% repairs and maintenance. New construction dropped slightly during this past year.
Western Product Mix
In the low-slope market, once again TPO will continue to take the biggest portion of the roofing pie in the West with a 36.5% share, up from the previous year. Metal roofing, both architectural and structural, also showed significant increases. Other materials remained steady with only minor fluctuations.
On the residential side, the top dog in the West for 2024 will once again be fiberglass shingles with a commanding 65.2% of the market. No surprise there, as it has become the product of choice for many reroofing applications. The majority of the sales are coming from high-end fiberglass/laminated shingles. Major manufacturers continue to emphasize their premium product lines, the bulk being applied on reroofing projects.
Minor increases were also seen in metal roofing materials. These market shares are based on dollar volume of the jobs as reported by contractors answering our surveys.
Down the Road
Like many facets of the economy, COVID effects have been far-reaching and long lasting, and the construction industry is no exception. The aftermath lingers on; many left the industry during the lockdown, trying to hire and train new people, supply-chain shortages, rising prices, and now rising interest rates. What lies down the road for the remainder of this year? Many Western roofing contractors are optimistic, stating they’re hoping for the best. Now it’s just a waiting game.
