La-Z-Boy shares experienced their sharpest decline in four and a half years due to disappointing second-quarter guidance. This indicates that low housing turnover is significantly impacting demand for large discretionary items like furniture. Elevated mortgage rates and high home prices have severely constrained housing affordability, depressing transaction volumes. This consequently limits the replacement purchases that typically drive furniture sales.La-Z-Boy projected second-quarter sales of $475.7 million, a 3% decrease year-over-year, falling substantially short of analyst estimates. The company also forecasted soft adjusted and reported operating margins for the quarter. Bradley Thomas, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, attributed the lower guidance partly to continued investment.This weak outlook follows a first quarter where adjusted earnings per share were 43 cents, below both the previous year’s 47 cents and analyst estimates. On a reported basis, La-Z-Boy incurred a loss of 6 cents per share. The 14% stock plunge reflects investor concerns that households are delaying discretionary spending, a trend expected to persist as mortgage rates remain high.The broader implication is that poor housing market conditions are also affecting home improvement retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's, and other major household goods retailers such as Wayfair, RH, and Williams-Sonoma. La-Z-Boy serves as further evidence that America's stagnant housing market continues to suppress consumer demand for big-ticket purchases. This trend aligns with recent disappointing retail sales figures, particularly in discretionary categories, and the ongoing impact of rising gasoline prices on consumer sentiment.