23 February 2021
Home Depot has been a proxy for the white-hot housing market.
What's going on: The company rode the coattails of the pandemic building boom — and just gave us a hint that it hasn't slowed down.
A fresh data point illuminates the boom: U.S. home prices soared in December at the fastest pace in six years — the latest sign of strong demand.
Details: Home Depot said Tuesday vinyl flooring, appliances and moldings drove sales at the end of last year.
- Sales for DIY projects continued at a breakneck pace.
- Professional builders' purchases of housing supplies jumped the most since the pandemic began.
Catch up quick: Home demand has soared, but supply is still tight — sending prices soaring.
- Builders are racing to keep up with the demand for new homes.
- Borrowing rates plummeted when the pandemic hit, enticing locked-down residents to seek out bigger or different homes.
The other side: As people spent more time in their homes, they put extra cash in them too, fueling a home-improvement frenzy.
What they're saying: "It took us 19 years ... to get the first $20 billion in total sales," but sales jumped by more than that in one year alone, Home Depot CEO Craig Menear told analysts today.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.