On the negative side, fabricators who predicted a decline in business in 2008 felt that the impact would be fairly significant. A total of 94% of these respondents said the decline would be greater than 10%, and the majority of those predicting a decline (60%) felt that the drop-off would be greater than 15%. Overwhelmingly, fabricators cited the sagging housing market and general economic slump as the reasons for their less-than-positive outlook. "We do not believe we will see relief from the current economic downturn until 2009," stated one fabricator. Increased competition from new stone fabricators was another major factor cited by respondents. Summing up the feelings of several fabricators who took part in the poll, one respondent stated: "There are just too many fabricators springing up."
Meanwhile, fabricators calling for growth this year are also expecting fairly major changes. A total of 83% of those expecting growth said it would be more than 10%, and 37.9% felt that the jump would be over 15%.