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MARKET BEATS 13
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Furniture search demand improves
Online search behaviour suggests that consumer interest Getty Images
in furniture products in Germany has strengthened again in
recent years.
After declining between 2021 and 2023, the product search
index began to recover and has gradually moved upward

through 2024 and 2025.
Recent values are among the highest in the series, indicating
that consumers are increasingly searching for furniture-related
products again after a period of weaker interest.
This improvement suggests that early-stage demand linked to households' willingness to make larger expenditures.
signals for furniture may be recovering even though realised Changes in consumer confidence therefore often translate
retail sales remain subdued. into shifts in spending on durable goods.
At the same time, searches for furniture retailers have In Germany, consumer confidence dropped sharply during
remained comparatively weaker, creating a divergence between the inflation shock of 2022, reaching the lowest levels in the

product and retailer search trends. This may indicate that series. Since then, sentiment has recovered somewhat, but
consumers increasingly start their purchase journey with the indicator has remained consistently negative over the
product searches rather than retailer brands. past two years.
While the worst of the decline appears to be over, confidence
Early signs of recovery in German housing remains below pre-2020 levels, suggesting that households
Housing activity is closely linked to furniture demand, as are still relatively cautious in their spending outlook.
home purchases, relocations and new construction typically Taken together, the indicators suggest that the German

trigger furniture spending. furniture market may be approaching the end of its recent
Changes in the housing cycle therefore often translate into downturn, but a clear recovery has not yet emerged. Retail
shifts in furniture market activity. turnover remains slightly below recent years, indicating that
After a sharp downturn between 2022 and 2024, the realised demand is still weak even though the rate of decline
German housing cycle is showing early signs of recovery. has moderated.
Both mortgage lending and residential building permits At the same time, several forward-looking signals are
declined significantly during the period of rising interest rates, becoming more positive.
with permits falling particularly strongly. Furniture product searches have strengthened again and
More recently, however, mortgage volumes have begun to housing indicators show early signs of stabilisation after a sharp

increase again and building permits appear to have stabilised contraction. However, the continued weakness in consumer
after the steep decline, suggesting that the housing market confidence suggests that households remain cautious about
may be gradually bottoming out. discretionary spending.
Overall, the data point to a market that is stabilising with
German consumer confidence remains subdued tentative early demand signals, but where a sustained recovery
Consumer sentiment plays an important role in furniture will likely depend on further improvement in housing activity
demand, as furniture purchases are typically discretionary and and consumer sentiment.