Dive Brief:

• Mooresville, NC-based Lowe’s, the country’s number two home improvement retailer, reported a Q4 net sales increase of 5.6% to $11.7 billion.

• Number one Atlanta-based Home Depot, meanwhile, reported a Q4 sales increase of 3.9% from last year, excluding an additional week in 2012​.

• New home sales increased nearly 10% in January, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, the strongest showing in more than five years.

Dive Insight:

Although Home Depot and Lowe’s both felt the pinch of bad weather early this year, they were also boosted from rebounding sales of existing homes​—the best increase in five and a half years—and the resulting uptick in renovations that inevitably flows from that.​ In a twist, Lowe’s is benefiting from its weakness—the fact that, as several analysits and observers have noted, contractors are more likely to go to Home Depot for supplies—because contractors saw less work in January’s stormy freeze. If the housing recovery can continue, both retailers should reap the rewards as the weather improves.