Housing Market Resurgence Means Booming Business for Franchises

The term “buyer’s market” may be turning the corner, as the real estate market has seen the biggest annual increase in sales since June 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. Both housing sales and home prices are significantly higher from previous years, allowing for the growth and expansion of franchises dealing directly with the market. For the past seven years, the housing market has been at a relative standstill, with sinking housing costs and high-leverage loans, the market was catering beautifully to a buyer’s needs. This trend, however, is slowly shifting and home businesses can see a direct impact. The housing market affects not only buyers and sellers, but the franchisors that deal directly with the competitive real estate industry. Luckily for these businesses, the housing market has turned a corner, allowing for a positive affect for brands such as Two Men and a Truck and Lawn Doctor*. With home prices on the upswing, services such as moving companies and lawn care companies have seen some of their highest sales yet. “We are thankful that it does appear that the housing market is seeing a bit more sold signs. The job market appears to be stabilizing and thankfully for 2012, we had our best year in history. Two thirds of our franchisees broke their sales records,” said Melanie Bergeron, Chief Financial Executive of Two Men and a Truck, one of the nation’s most well-recognized moving companies. Affirming the healthy state of the current real-estate market is the increase in existing home sales. With the current number of sales 10.2% above the 4.52 million-unit level measured in February 2012, this growth has spurred business for Lawn Doctor, a national lawn care franchise. “We have 450 locations across the US. Last year was one of the best years in our history with an 18% increase in customer counts, with the average revenue per customer is up 6.5%,” said Scott Frith, CEO of Lawn Doctor. “So far this year we’re up 8.8% through February and we expect this year to outpace last year.” As these numbers continue to escalate, franchises associated with the housing market may just be the hottest business to venture into in 2013.