Author: Madison’s Lumber Reporter

  • Homeownership vs Rental Rates, US

    Amercia’s homeownership rate has been falling for eight years, down to 63.7 per cent in 1Q this year from a peak of over 69 per cent in 2004, according to a new report released by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, said the New York Times Wednesday. The flip side of the decline in…

  • Wildfire Season 2015 : North America

    It is obvious to everyone involved in the forest even superficially that this year’s fire season has come on very early and seems like it will be severe. Forest industry veterans say there has never been such extended hot, dry weather this early in the year. Indeed, mainstream media reports this week indicate that 62-thousand…

  • COFI Announces…

    BC Hydro executive vice-president Susan Yurkovich will become the new president and chief executive officer of the Council of Forest Industries on September 14, the agency announced Tuesday. Yurkovich, who leaves Hydro at the end of this week, will replace James Gorman, who is taking a new position as vice-president of Vancouver-based wood products company…

  • US New and Existing Home Sales: April 2015

    Following the pullback seen in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing that US new home sales climbed 6.8 per cent to an annual rate of 517,000 in April from the revised March rate of 484,000. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that the median price of an…

  • US Housing Starts: May 2015

    Groundbreakings of new homes in the US surged to a seven-year high in April before falling 11 per cent last month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The level of activity remained stable in May at an annual rate of 1.04 million units, and signs pointed to further gains in coming months. Housing Starts, US US…