Consumer Price Index: Durable Goods | June 2026

In June, price growth for consumer durable goods accelerated with a month-over-month (MoM) increase of +0.79%. This is up from a revised monthly +0.05% increase in May. Across our four product groups, three showed month-over-month acceleration, with appliances showing the only price growth decline.

Prime Week has become a defining moment for discounting strategy in the durable goods sector and is now a mature, calibrated promotional environment rather than a race to ever-deeper markdowns. In the immediate years after the pandemic, Prime events were shorter bursts characterized by very broad discounting, even if the price cuts themselves were relatively modest. More recently, the pattern has shifted toward longer promotional windows but less widespread participation, reinforcing that these events are still mostly about discount breadth rather than deep, margin-eroding discounts. Across 2021–2026, average Prime Week discount magnitudes on durables have hovered in a tight band around the broader month’s pricing – typically within a couple of percentage points of the rest-of-month average – underscoring that the real story is which products are on sale, not how dramatically they’re marked down.

Overall discount frequency during Prime Week reached 28.5%, up from 24.4% in the rest of June, signaling a meaningful but targeted expansion of what’s on deal rather than an aggressive dive on price. That expansion was not evenly distributed: home improvement and recreation saw the largest jumps in discounting, with Prime Week coverage rising to 20.5% and 34.7% of items respectively, compared with 15.2% and 26.3% during the rest of the month. 

For the Communication & Recreation Groups, Amazon’s Prime Week discounting was still focused on quantity over quality, but differed on value products versus premium:  smartphones saw almost 80% of Prime Week deals occurring under the $800 price range.  Headphones, however, focused discounts on higher end products, so the dollar savings amount was in-line with last year, but the amount of discount was smaller. 

Retailers used very different discount playbooks during this year’s Prime Week event – not only compared to one another, but also compared to last year. During Prime Week 2025, Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot and Walmart all increased discount frequency above their July baselines, with Walmart in particular moving from roughly one-quarter of assortment on sale to well over half. In 2026, however, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Walmart discount frequency was smaller during Prime Week than the prior year, while Best Buy and Target all increased their discount frequency.

At the same time, discount magnitude changes were mixed in 2026: Best Buy and Walmart deepened Prime‑adjacent cuts versus 2025. Amazon’s average discount depths, by contrast, stayed relatively stable year over year and closer to their non‑event baselines, while Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target and Walmart all decreased their discount magnitudes during Prime Week 2026 versus the rest of June. This emphasizes how merchants are relying more on breadth of deals than on steeper price cuts to compete in the Prime event spotlight.

For durable goods brands and retailers, this combination of steady discount magnitudes and shifting breadth has a practical implication. Because Prime Week discounts are no longer dramatically deeper than the rest of the month, winning share increasingly depends on being included in the promotional set during the event window rather than racing to the lowest price.

• Key CPI Takeaways for June 2026 & Macroeconomic Outlook
• Product Group Highlights
  • Appliances
  • Communication
  • Home Improvement
  • Recreation
• CPI 2026 Forecast: Macroeconomic Summary
• Methodology

Overall OpenBrand Consumer Price Index Movement: The OpenBrand CPI of Durable Goods recorded a +0.79% monthly change in June.  All product groups except Appliances experienced price increases this month.  

Discount Trends: June brought mixed changes in discount activity to the durable goods sector, with magnitude month-over-month falling to 19.2% of all durable goods from 19.9% in the month prior.  The typical frequency remained flat compared to the month prior at 24.4%. 

Product Group Price Trends: All product groups except Appliances experienced an uptick in prices and the rate of growth from the month prior.  The group summary is as follows:

• Appliance Group (-0.02%)  
• Communication Group (+1.13%)  
• Home Improvement Group (+1.03%)  
• Recreation Group (+1.81%)

CPI: Appliances

Prices for appliances remained flat compared to last month, remaining at -0.02%. Magnitude decreased from 17.4% to 16.9%, while frequency grew by 4 percentage points from 38.0% to 42.0% from May to June. The lack of price change was at least partially driven by the decent increase in discount frequency.

CPI: Communication

Prices of communication devices, including phones, tablets, computers, and printers, rose on a month-over-month basis to +1.13%, up from a revised -0.62% the month prior. Both discount frequency and discount magnitude decreased this month, from 16.1% to 14.0%, and 20.4% to 19.7% respectively. The acceleration in price growth was at least partially driven by the decrease in both frequency & magnitude of discounts.

CPI: Home Improvement

Prices for home improvement goods experienced an acceleration in growth this month, increasing to +1.03% on a month-over-month seasonally-adjusted basis in June, rising from -0.33% in the month prior. Discount frequency increased by over 1.5 percentage points from 13.6% to 15.2% from May to June, while discount magnitude decreased from 16.9% to 16.3% from May to June. The acceleration in price growth was at least partially driven by the decrease in the typical discount magnitude.

CPI: Recreation

The rate of price growth of recreational products, including TVs, headphones, and speaker systems, experienced acceleration this month, increasing to +1.81% on a month-over-month seasonally-adjusted basis in June, up from a revised +0.37% in May. Both discount frequency and discount magnitude decreased this month, from 30.1% to 26.3%, and 24.9% to 23.9% respectively. The acceleration in price growth was at least partially driven by the decrease in both frequency & magnitude of discounts.

The macroeconomic setting as we enter the second half of 2026 is defined by a cautious combination of potential growth, energy shock, and tighter‑for‑longer financial conditions for the durable goods sector. 

Energy remains the pivotal factor in the current economy.  Global inventories have been drawn down to multi‑decade lows: more than a billion barrels have been pulled from storage, OECD stocks sit near their lowest levels since the late 1980s.  Governments and firms alike will want to rebuild reserves once flows through the Strait of Hormuz start to normalize. Even under the assumption that the strait gradually reopens beginning in July, it will likely take 8-12 months to fully restore traffic.  For durable goods manufacturers, that means the full pass‑through of higher oil and transportation costs into input prices is still unfolding and in an important lag.

The near‑term GDP outlook has cooled as the economy works through the energy shock and regains some momentum, with growth now projected at an average of 2.1% in 2026.  The spike in energy prices prior to this month undermined business confidence and household spending, and investment responses in the energy sector are slow to materialize, dampening demand for equipment, vehicles, and other long‑lived capital goods. While large tax refunds and stimulus from the One Big Beautiful Bill initially provided a catalyst to consumption, higher fuel and utility costs are absorbing much of that support, leaving less room for big‑ticket purchases. For durable goods suppliers, this translates into heightened sensitivity to purchases and pricing, particularly in consumer‑facing segments that depend on discretionary income. Consumer spending, fixed non-residential investment and exports were the sources of growth in the first quarter. Business investment is arguably the strongest counterweight to these headwinds as real fixed non-residential investment surged at a double‑digit pace in the first quarter – a critical signal for the durable goods outlook.

Job growth surprised to the upside in recent months, with payrolls adding more than 150,000 positions per month from March through May and 172,000 in May alone, yet the unemployment rate has held around 4.3%.  Real wages are under pressure from inflation and higher energy costs, thus encouraging consumers to be more selective with purchases.

Above‑target inflation – driven by the Iran war, oil price spikes and tariffs – means the Federal Reserve is unable to make rate cuts, with the policy rate expected to stay in its current 3.5-3.75% range through the end of the decade before gradually returning toward historical norms.  The 10‑year Treasury yield has drifted up to about 4.45% in June, roughly 30 basis points above where it started the year.  This dampens the appetite for large, credit‑financed purchases, increasing the value of dependable cash streams and pricing power.

The existing 10% universal tariff under Section 120 of the Trade Act of 1974 is set to expire at the end of July, easing some cost pressures but not fully reversing the drag from past trade frictions.  [LF1] Higher mortgage rates – pushed up in part by Middle East tensions and elevated oil prices – are interacting with tight existing‑home supply and poor affordability to limit home buying through 2026. Homebuilders face a difficult mix of rising materials costs due to tariffs and a buildup of completed inventory that will weigh on single‑family permits over the coming year. 

Currently, the consumer is not stepping back entirely, but is scrutinizing every dollar more closely, while businesses are managing higher costs that will continue to shape the mix of durable goods demand well beyond 2026.  With scarce oil and ongoing efforts to rebuild inventories, financing costs likely to stay high, and real incomes under pressure, the durable goods sector will be defined less by headline growth and more by how effectively firms manage volatility.

Note: This summary is based on data available as of early July 2026 and may be subject to revisions in future releases. Special thanks to Lauren Finck and Scott Peterson for their contributions to this month’s report.

For questions about the report, please contact Ralph McLaughlin at ralph@openbrand.com 

For press inquiries, please contact press@openbrand.com 

The OpenBrand CPI of Durable Goods is constructed using a data-driven methodology that ensures accuracy, timeliness, and transparency in measuring price trends for both short and long-lasting consumer products. The methodology consists of the following key components:

Data Collection

• Real-Time Price Tracking: Prices are sourced daily from online marketplaces, retail websites, and brick-and-mortar store listings.
• Retailer & Manufacturer Data: Aggregates pricing information from major retailers, direct-to-consumer brands, and wholesale suppliers into broader consumer categories.
• Temporal Coverage: Captures price variations over time, including daily discounts and price promotions

Product Selection & Tracking

• Durable and Goods Focus: The index includes products with an expected lifespan of three years or more, such as home appliances, consumer electronics, and tools.
• Brand & Model Tracking: Individual brands and models are monitored to reflect pricing shifts within competitive product segments, including both permanent changes in listing price as well as temporary promotional pricing.

Price Calculation, Adjustments, and Weighting

• Price Calculation: Tracks month-over-month and year-over-year price movements to measure price stability in the marketplace and take into account both longer-term changes in pricing (such as changes in manufacturer’s suggested retail price) as well as more short-term changes in pricing, such as promotional discounts and sales prices. 
• SKU-Removal Instead of Hedonic Adjustments: When a product (or SKU) becomes unavailable in the BLS goods basket, the BLS implements a SKU-replacement procedure whereby the next most similar product is used in its place, and a quality (hedonic) adjustment procedure is performed to get closer to an apples-to-apples price comparison. Since OpenBrand has data on nearly 100% of the SKUs pricing history in a given product category, we can simply remove that SKU from the basket and rely on price changes of the remaining SKUs in that basket. This eliminates the need for hedonic adjustment in the OpenBrand CPI basket.
• Weighting and Aggregation Method: A weighted geometric mean formula is used to minimize volatility and improve stability in price trend analysis at both the product grouping and category level. Instead of using sales-volume weights when aggregating the index, we take an alternative approach by using persistence-based weights for aggregation. Instead of more frequently purchased items getting more weight in the BLS’ CPI calculation, OpenBrand takes a more novel approach by weighting items with a more established price history in the market more heavily in our CPI calculation than items with a less established history.

Reporting & Updates

• High-Frequency Updates: Published freely on a monthly basis, with a subscription option for daily summaries across categories, sub-categories, and individual products.
• Comparative Benchmarks: We aggregate pricing as analogously as possible to traditional BLS CPI measures for benchmarking purposes.
• Transparency & Accessibility: Provides both open and paid data access for journalists, researchers, businesses, and policymakers.

By leveraging real-time data and advanced statistical techniques, the OpenBrand CPI offers an accurate and dynamic measure of pricing trends, helping businesses and consumers make informed decisions in an evolving economic landscape.