It looks like the slowdown in housing sales is starting to affect the home improvement retailer Lowe’s. Sales for the first quarter were down surprising analysts and stockholders. Lowes is blaming the the housing market for the drop in sales.

This does make sense. If your property in not appreciating you are less likely to invest in home improvements. And since my guess is many of these projects are being funded by home equity financing, we will not see a pick up for the retailer in the near term.

Retailer Lowe’s Cos. reported a lower-than-expected first-quarter profit on Monday as the slower U.S. housing market pressured sales and cut its full-year earnings forecast. Earnings came to $739 million, or 48 cents a share, for the first quarter that ended May 4, down 12 percent from $841 million, or 53 cents share, a year earlier.Analysts on average expected 49 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Total sales rose 2 percent to $12.2 billion, helped by 15 store openings, but shy of the $12.5 billion expected by analysts. Sales at stores open at least a year, an important retail measure, fell 6.3 percent. In a statement, Lowe’s (Charts, Fortune 500) said a difficult U.S. housing market, tough comparisons to hurricane rebuilding efforts and falling lumber prices pressured results. It also said cold and wet weather in April contributed to lower-than-planned sales. via CNN Money

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