Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) has released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 3.6 percent during November 2020.

The average annual sales growth for the 12 months through November 2020 is 3.2 percent. 

"This month was warmer than normal and warmer than November 2019 in six of our seven economic regions," said HARDI Market Research and Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus. "November is an important month for annual furnace sales, and the weather was not helping demand."

The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now at 44 days. “The normal DSO for January is 48 days,” Loftus said. “It is increasing from the summer lows consistent with the normal annual pattern. One of many things that was unique about this year is how low DSO was this summer due to the unusually high share of cash transactions.”

Loftus said it looks like the modest temps offset the strong housing market, but the recovery is far from over. “The easy part of the recovery is behind us, but another economic surge is likely if the vaccines can prevent a COVID surge,” he added. 

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.