BRIGHTON, Ontario - Industry insiders have always held furniture is a postponable purchase. The consumer can always put off buying that new upholstery or master bedroom suite and the reason for doing so doesn’t really matter.

This explains, at least in part, the build-up and release of pent-up demand during recessions and their aftermaths.

This makes furniture different from say, major appliances. In this day of high-technology refrigerators and washing machines, for example, it’s often easier — not to mention more fun — to replace a faulty unit than it is to have it repaired.

The consumer’s reasons for putting off furniture purchases can vary greatly, but most are grounded in economic reality. But one stands out: Consumers and their families haven’t seen strong upticks in either their personal or household income over the past decade.

According to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau, median family income was $53,657 in 2014, which it said was statistically unchanged from the $54,462 for 2013. But what’s truly distressing is wages in the United States are still 6.5% lower on average than they were in 2007.

The story in Canada isn’t much different. According to Statistics Canada, median family income in 2013 (the 2014 figures are yet available) was C$60,500. Once again, that is essentially unchanged from the prior year and follows a period of very slow, even poor, growth in wages over the prior decade.

Meanwhile, the demands on income have grown considerably. For example, in Canada the average price of a home on the resale market jumped 17% in 2015 alone. While in the United States, the average price only jumped 8.2% in January over January 2015, the important fact to remember for both countries is the increase in the cost of housing is rapidly outpacing any growth in income.

One area where the two neighboring countries are diverging is household debt. Stateside, the ratio of household debt to disposable personal income is about 98 cents or so, according to the latest available figures. In Canada, the ratio is $1.64 — a new record high. In either case, the typical American family has debt equal to their income. Their Canadian cousins have much higher debt to pay, roughly about that the American family had when everything went sideways back in 2008.

In both countries, furniture store sales have grown nicely over the past couple of years and most of the trends continue to move in the industry’s favor. But it’s not unreasonable to suggest that slow income growth, higher home prices and mounting household debt may help drag down performance over the coming few years.