The US Pending Home Sales Index, reported Thursday by the National Association of Realtors, is a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts. The PHSI declined -1% from 102.9 in January to 101.9 in February, and was -4.9% below the level one year ago, marking the fourteenth straight month of declines on an annualized basis.
Be ahead of these data releases! Don’t delay, this week’s softwood lumber market comment was published to the website Monday morning.
Madison’s Lumber Prices, weekly, are a good forecast indicator of US home builder’s current lumber buying activity ——> DETAILS
Given a revised +4.3% gain last month, the National Association of Realtors stated the minor drop in February is not a major concern. Furthermore, NAR (and NAHB) expected monetary policy will remain unchanged — no interest rate increases in 2019. Even if there is a change, NAR anticipated the Fed will lower interest rates to stimulate the economy and the housing market.