COLUMBUS, Ohio – Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing average sales for HARDI distributor members increased 7.7 percent in November 2014.

The annualized growth has been between 6 percent and 7 percent throughout 2014. It ends the year hugging the lower edge of the range at 6.1 percent .

“Low oil prices are proving to be a boon for consumer spending and we expect this trend to continue through at least the first three quarters of 2015,” said Danielle Marceau, senior economist, HARDI.

“Recent results for HARDI distributors have been very consistent,” said HARDI Market Research and Benchmarking analyst Brian Loftus, adding, “Over the past four months across seven economic reporting regions, we have only seen one modest sales decline.”

The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, remained at 46 days. Prompt payments have delayed the normal seasonal DSO increase.

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.