The future of log home business came to Finland
In the U.S. the log home industry has benefited from the strong economy and especially from the strong real estate market. At the same time, there has been some sort of revival of log home culture. Generation of baby-boomers is acquiring log cabins and log homes for retirement. Almost every established log home manufacturer is still alive and new players are emerging monthly. It has been all-out sunshine and none of that bad ultraviolet radiation.
How come any of that is even remotely related to Finland? It has been pretty much the same over here with the exception of our tiny home market. Finnish log home companies had to start exporting from early on to grow the business. Many companies were started to surf the latest money making trend. Unfortunately for our companies, the value of euro has been rocketing against U.S. dollar. This has made Finnish log cabins and log homes rather pricey compared to what they were before. Result – a severe drop in demand and therefore financial crisis.
Out-dated design makes a poor seller.
In coming years, I hope, U.S. foreign debt starts dropping and dollar will rebound. That is the time when foreign log cabin and log home manufacturers resurface U.S. markets as tough competitors. They have weathered difficult times by rationalizing their operations and improving their models. Quite a few U.S. log home manufacturer will be in serious rough in coming 5 to 10 years.
