Good news for home improvement dealers and contractors utilizing financing to help close sales:  Industry trends indicate consumers continue to invest in home improvements; the use of credit by consumers continues to grow and the default rates remain at low levels.   Specific to home improvement – both Home Depot and Lowe’s reported positive earnings last week for the quarter ending in July.  Home Depot’s comparable U.S. stores sales increased 5.4% on an annual basis, and Lowe’s grew 1.9%. Recently released data from the Federal Reserve shows that consumer credit grew at an annual rate of 5.25% in the second quarter of […]