The dynamics that impacted the hardwood flooring category in 2023—i.e., intense competition from wood look-alike products like SPC, WPC, LVT and laminate, as well as competition for raw materials from end-use sectors other than wood flooring—continued to challenge the wood category in 2024. In the end, the hardwood segment again felt the impact, with sales dipping below the $2 billion mark. FCNews research showed the sales at the first point of distribution totaled $1.845 billion in 2024, a 9% decrease from 2023. Volume took a hit as well, falling 10.7% to 676 million square feet.
It’s been a while since the category generated numbers in that vicinity or even lower. Back in 2009, the height of the Great Recession, hardwood sales came in at $1.586 billion and volume hit the 700 million-per-square-foot mark. And five years later, in 2014, hardwood sales had improved to $1.94 billion in sales and 770 million square feet. From 2015 through 2023, however, the hardwood category rebounded, consistently generating sales about $2 billion—until 2024.
Hardwood’s loss of market share is even more pronounced when comparing the category’s performance relative to other hard surfaces. Stripping out carpet, hardwood accounted for 12.6% of total sales last year—coming in third place above laminate and rubber, but trailing resilient and ceramic, respectively. Volume-wise, hardwood accounted for nearly 7% of total hard surface square footage sold at the first point of distribution in 2024. By comparison, in 2015, hardwood accounted for nearly a quarter of total hard surface sales (23.4%). But just five years later, by 2019, hardwood’s share of total hard surfaces had slipped to 19.5%.
“I think a lot of the decline in the wood flooring market last year had to do with the drop-off in building and remodeling, combined with higher interest rates,” said Milton Goodwin, vice president, AHF Products. However, the higher end of the wood flooring market seemed to hold its own. “In entry-level homes, they’re not using wood,” he noted. “But people who are building middle-to upper-end homes still want wood in there. In that $500,000-$600,000-and-up range, we are seeing builders providing wood as an option for the homebuyer.”
Other major hardwood flooring executives agree that the high end was the category’s saving grace last year. “There’s always going to be a customer for real hardwood,” said David Moore, vice president of product management, Mohawk. “There’s always going to be someone who says, ‘I want the real thing. I want to have a party, have all my friends over, and tell them that this is a real wood floor. And when I sell my home, I want to list real wood floors on the documentation.’”
More importantly, wood still managed to maintain its historically high-profile margins—mainly on the strength of engineered products, which command a higher price tag compared to traditional solids. FCNews research showed the average wholesale price of hardwood flooring rose slightly to $2.73 per square foot last year. In fact, it was the only category that experienced an increase in average selling price.
Another encouraging sign for wood suppliers—looking at the glass as “half full,” of course—is the rate of hardwood’s decline fell from 15% and 17.3% in sales and volume, respectively, in 2023 to 9% and 10.7%, respectively, last year. It could be an indication, proponents say, that wood is taking the first steps in clawing back some of that lost market share. For example, the improvements that hardwood suppliers have made to compete with the LVP and high-performance laminate could finally be paying dividends.
“We are seeing, especially in the high-end, positive activity in the 3mm and 4mm veneer, sliced-faced products—the thicker 9/16- and 5/8-inch wood floors,” Moore explained. “We’re also seeing a little bit of a resurgence on the builder side as well as builders look to compete in that mid-price point.”
Kyle McAllister, director of hardwood, Shaw Floors, concurred. “When we look at the product mix in wood, you’re definitely seeing movement toward the higher end,” he explained. “If you were to look back six to eight years ago, there was a lot of entry-level hardwood being sold. Now, with the growth of SPC and WPC, you’ve seen that change. SPC ate up a lot of the share at entry level of the market, which pushed wood growth to the higher end.”
All this activity is reflected in the movement seen in terms of wood flooring consumption last year. FCNews research shows the residential replacement sector accounted for 66.4% of wood flooring sales in 2024, up slightly from 65.4% the year prior. Meanwhile, wood consumption in the new home construction sector dipped slightly below 20%. Commercial wood consumption remained relatively steady at roughly 11.6% of sales, based largely on the strength of specified products going into restaurant, hospitality and higher education settings like university libraries. There was slightly less usage in corporate/office applications for wood.
In terms of product type, prefinished wood flooring saw its share of the market continue to rise in 2024. FCNews research showed the prefinished portion of the domestic wood flooring market accounted for roughly 85% of sales last year, up from about 75% in 2023. In that same vein, engineered wood saw its share of the total wood flooring pie grow from about 70% in 2023 to 75% last year. And with respect to species, white oak (much of it sourced from Europe) and domestic red oak accounted for the lion’s share of species sold last year.
Not much has changed, year over year, though, with respect to wood flooring sales by channel. Specialty floor covering stores represented about 41% of overall wood sales, up only slightly from 2023’s 40%, while home centers’ share fell slightly from 35% in 2023 to about 32% last year. Large-format retailers like Floor & Decor, which says it does not compete with the nation’s major home center chains, actually reported an increase in its hardwood flooring sales. All other flooring categories within Floor & Decor declined last year, financial reports show.
Import influence
The year 2024 saw more domestic brands outsourcing wood flooring production to other countries. In the years since the U.S. flooring sector began seeing dramatic declines from China—particularly engineered hardwood and laminate products—Southeast Asia has emerged as a viable alternative. Countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, for example, have seen their manufacturing industries grow steadily, driven by competitive labor costs, a maturing supply chain infrastructure and increasing foreign investment. FCNews research shows shipments from Southeast Asian countries accounted for nearly 50% of the wood flooring market last year, while China’s share continues to drop.
For example, five years ago, shipments from China accounted for nearly 60% of all hardwood flooring sold in the U.S. at the first point of sale. In 2022 that number plummeted to 26% before dropping 2 more percentage points in 2023. For 2024, that number is hovering around 20% and falling fast. For perspective, hardwood imports from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and others grew from roughly 9% in 2018 to 43% in 2022; 47% in 2023; and 49.4% last year.
“We definitely saw hardwood production rise in Southeast Asia—a region that has been the beneficiary of the decline in hardwood production from China,” AHF Products’ Goodwin stated.
Importing from that part of the world is not without its challenges, though. Southeast Asian suppliers must meet the stringent regulatory and certification standards of the U.S. market. U.S. laws such as the Lacey Act require that imported wood products, including hardwood flooring, be legally harvested and sourced. Violations can result in severe penalties, including shipment seizure and bans. Additionally, suppliers must comply with product testing and safety standards set by organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Products often need to be certified for emissions, such as formaldehyde content in composite wood flooring.
At the same time, Southeast Asian suppliers rely heavily on maritime shipping to reach the U.S. market. Port congestion, container shortages and unpredictable shipping schedules are not unheard of. Even as the situation has improved since the days of the pandemic, the industry remains vulnerable to bottlenecks and rising freight costs.
Moreover, the long lead times involved in shipping from Southeast Asia to the U.S.—typically ranging from four to eight weeks—require precise inventory forecasting and demand planning. That’s why the more savvy importers make it a point to ensure ample stateside supply to avoid such issues.
“We have over 2 million square feet of inventory in two company owned and staffed warehouses in Sutton, Mass., and Franklin, N.J.,” said Bill Schollmeyer, who serves as vice president of sales for R&J Flooring Supply, a Vietnamese-owned company.
Present state, future outlook
While hardwood flooring executives are encouraged by trends showing a possible retreat from hardwood’s high, double-digit sales losses, some challenges persist. Tariffs, for example, stand to impact the category measurably, especially with more wood manufacturers and distributors increasingly relying on sourced programs. It’s also impacting our trading partners to the north.
“Right now the big issue for us is the tariffs,” said Derick Roy, sales director for Quebec-based Wickham Hardwood Flooring. “The majority of our business is in the U.S., our best partners are in the U.S., our best suppliers of lumber are in the U.S., so it does affect us tremendously.”
Even more frustrating for Canada-based suppliers like Wickham ham is the “on again/off again” nature of the tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration since he took office for the second time. Proponents say the threat of tariffs—or the outright imposition of tariffs with threats to raise them even higher—provide a strong bargaining chip. The flip side of that equation, however, is the uncertainty created by the start/stop nature of the current tariff situation. This makes it difficult for suppliers to manage costs and ensure product availability, all while attempting to maintain competitive pricing in the market.
Tariffs, while on the forefront of everyone’s minds, are not the only issue hardwood suppliers need to contend with. Industry executives are closely watching the housing market, a bellwether sector for wood. The hope among many is that interest rates will drop, causing home prices to come back down to earth. All of which bodes well for wood floors.
Another factor is the ongoing competition for raw lumber—not necessarily within the flooring arena but other market sectors. For instance, competition for raw lumber materials from segments such as wine-barrel manufacturing, furniture, paper/pulp industries and the like. This phenomenon has intensified as various industries continue to demand high-quality timber. This competition has been exacerbated by the growing global demand for timber, particularly from countries like China, where demand for wood products has risen as the economy continues to expand.
“We’re not counting on somebody else to supply us our raw materials,” AHF Products’ Goodwin said, citing the company’s ownership of two local sawmills. “We also make our own plywood, and we cut our own veneers. We do source some veneers, but a lot of it is done in-house.”
Despite these challenges and others, wood flooring executives remain cautiously optimistic. “We did start to see a pretty significant rebound in the back half of the year though, and it’s continued to grow throughout the first half of the year,” Shaw Floors’ McAllister said. “As I look into the future, I feel the industry will probably recover a little bit. I don’t see major double-digit growth, but I’ve talked to a lot of customers out there, a lot of sales reps and other manufacturers and they’ve seen an uptick in their business. I cannot express enough how excited I am about the future of the category. I’m very pleased with the performance of the wood business right now.”
