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US Built-for-Rent Starts: 1Q 2015
US single-family homes built-for-rent declined to approximately 2,000 starts for 1Q 2015, compared to about 4,000 at the start of 2014. The share and count of built-for-rent starts are off post-recession highs and will approach historical norms as the housing market continues to expand. However, given the relatively small size of this market, care must…
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US Pending & Existing Home Sales: April 2015
The NAR Pending Home Sales Index increased for the fourth straight month in April to a level 14 per cent above April of 2014. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts produced by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), increased 3.4 per cent in April to 112.4, up from…
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Japan Domestic Lumber Prices Dropping
Domestic log cutting sawmills in Japan have suffered low lumber prices for more than a year, according to Japan Lumber Reports Friday. “Some sawmills are trying to cash in their lumber inventories even with lower log prices which continue dropping,” said the Reports. “Some regions in Japan are reviving sawmills after log prices plunged since…
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Railway Layoffs, Bridge Fire
A wooden railroad bridge near Minnesota’s border with Canada burned and collapsed early Wednesday, shutting a busy train route that connects the Pacific Coast with Chicago, according to Associated Press via New York Times Wednesday. The bridge in Koochiching County belonged to CN Rail. It carried more than 20 trains over the Rat Root River…
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West Coast Log and Lumber Exports: 1Q 2015
Log exports from Washington, Oregon, northern California, and Alaska totalled 272 mmfbm in 1Q 2015, a decrease of nearly 16 per cent compared to 4Q 2014, the US Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station reported Wednesday. During this same period, west coast lumber exports declined 4 per cent in volume to 162 mmfbm. Log and…
