Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing sales by HARDI distributors increased by 7.7% during February 2024.

The annual sales growth for the 12 months through February 2024 is an increase of 0.02%.

“After the flat sales during 2023, it looks like we are off to a good start with 9% sales growth during January and 7.7% during February,” said HARDI Macroeconomic & Residential Market Analyst Brian Loftus. “The sales growth during February had the benefit of one more billing day than February of 2023. With the same number of billing days, we estimate the sales growth for the month would have been closer to 2.6%.”

The Days Sales Outstanding, a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, was near 42 days during February. “42 this month was comparable to February of 2022 and better than 43 the previous two years,” said Loftus. “Eleven fed fund rate increases have not been able to subdue GDP growth or job growth or dealer’s bill paying ability.”

“The TRENDS annual growth rate line has been resistant to break below zero and it may not need to,” said Loftus. “The economy has been resilient while interest rates were increasing and now rates are turning lower and the housing market is showing signs of life.”

HARDI members do not receive financial compensation in exchange for their monthly sales data and can discontinue their participation without prior notice or penalty. Participation is voluntary, and the depth of market coverage varies from region to region. An independent entity collects and compiles the data that can include products not directly associated with the HVACR industry.