Author: kkosman

  • British Columbia Sawmill Curtailment & Timber Supply Update: June 2019

    As the home building and construction season for 2019 marches on, seasoned players in the production, sale, and purchase of North American softwood dimension lumber products are surprised at the very low demand for solid wood commodities. Relentlessly dropping lumber prices — admittedly from soaring highs one year ago — since the end of 2018…

  • Most Softwood Lumber Prices Drop as Demand Remains Elusive

    Couched between the Canadian long weekend for Victoria Day and this Monday’s Memorial Day in the US, the entirety of the North American sawmilling and lumber sales industries were last week at a total loss for why demand for solid wood construction framing dimension softwood lumber products was so low. Wholesaler prices (net FOB sawmill)…

  • US Housing Market: May 2019

    Softwood Lumber Prices vs US House Price Index: 2019 In the US, a nationwide housing shortage has eased somewhat, said USA Today May 22. Home price gains have moderated. And bidding wars are no longer commonplace. Thirty-eight percent of US home buyers topped their spending limits, up from 32% a year ago, according to the March survey Owners.com,…

  • US New Home Sales: April 2019

    Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined to a 673,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the US Census Bureau. However, this decline was off a strong 723,000 sale pace in March, making that month’s sales rate the best since the Great Recession. Furthermore, the April rate was the…

  • US Existing Home Sales: April 2019

    Total US existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined -0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million in April, said the US  National Association of Realtors (NAR) Tuesday. On a year-over-year basis, sales were -4.4% lower than a year ago. Sales have declined on an annualized basis for more…