Through most of this year, residential suppliers took comfort in the relatively strong new construction market. What many forget, however, is that new roofing represents only a small portion of the average residential roofer's business - 14 percent to be exact. A healthy home-building market certainly helped boost morale in the construction industry in 2002, but it didn't do that much for steep slope installers. The number of contractors reporting a drop in business doubled from 2001 to 2002. Forty-four percent saw an increase and 23 percent said business stayed the same. Contractors in the West were most likely to have reported a dollar-volume boost. Fortunately, most shinglers are optimistic about 2003. Only 10 percent expect their volumes to drop again next year.
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