Month: June 2019

The latest issue of the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track, for January-March 2019, shows a +0.4% increase in US softwood lumber production volume, to 8,634 mmfbm. January – March softwood lumber production in Canada continued dropping by -8.6%, to 6,382 mmfbm, compared to the first three months of 2018 when it was 6,985…

The US Home Price Index, released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of +1.3% in March, following the +5.3% increase in February. On a year-over-year basis, the FHFA Home Price NSA Index rose by +5% in March. It was the lowest annual growth rate since January 2015, confirming the…

Confusion reigned only more last week in the North America construction framing dimension softwood lumber market as demand was very soft for what is normally the big home building season in the US. This week major producers announced further permanent closures and curtailments for British Columbia sawmills; due both to high log costs while lumber…

According to the US National Association of Home Builders, Americans spend more than US$200 billion on home improvements each year. The most recent data from Construction Spending showed that spending on residential improvements fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$173 billion in March 2019, down by -3.1% over February estimate, and was -14.1% lower than a year…