{
  "id": 1724821,
  "title": "Home Depot rides America’s housing affordability problem to sales increase on home DIY projects",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/home-depot-rides-americas-housing-affordability-problem-to-sales",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-18T13:41:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/08/18/home-depot-rides-americas-housing-affordability-problem-to-sales-increase-on-home-diy-projects/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Home Depot's sales increased during the second quarter as homeowners turned to smaller projects during the summer, while the U.S. housing market remained in a slump. The company's revenue reached $47.86 billion, surpassing the expected $47.24 billion. Worldwide, sales at stores open for at least a year grew by 1.7%, and in the U.S., comparable store sales rose 1.3%. CFO Richard McPhail noted that customers engaged in a variety of smaller projects. Customer transactions fell by 1%, but shoppers spent an average of $92.50 per transaction, up from $90.01 the previous year. Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, commented on the positive trend, saying that the number of smaller projects increased by 1.5% compared to the previous year. However, bigger-ticket projects declined by 2.1%. The rising costs of financing, especially for home equity loans, are hindering larger projects. Despite the challenges, Home Depot maintained its sales growth guidance for fiscal 2026, between 2.5% and 4.5%, and comparable sales will either remain flat or increase by 2%.",
  "summary": "Revenue climbed to $47.86 billion and U.S. comparable sales rose 1.3%, but big-ticket renovations fell as high borrowing costs persist",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Wolf Street",
        "title": "Pending Home Sales Drop to 2nd Lowest on Record, Plunge to Record Low in the West, to Near-Record Low in the South",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/pending-home-sales-drop-to-2nd-lowest-on-record-plunge-to-record-low",
        "published": "2026-08-18T16:59:36.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}