Author: kkosman

  • Softwood Lumber Prices Settle Further, US February Construction Spending Up

    Continued soft demand and unenthusiastic customers had North America construction framing softwood lumber prices lower last week, as operators can only wait and see if the usual spring lumber selling will materialize. Monday’s data release of improved US construction spending for February and recent data of strong US home sales and house prices has most…

  • US Construction Spending: February 2019

    US construction spending increased for a third straight month in February, boosted by gains in both private and public construction projects. Construction spending during February 2019, released Monday by the US Census Bureau, was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$1,320 billion, +1% above the revised January estimate of US$1,307 billion and a…

  • US New Home Sales: February 2019

    Contracts for new, single-family home sales in the US increased almost +5% to a 667,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the US Census Bureau Friday. This gain came despite an upward revision for the January data. However, the previously reported December data was revised down significantly…

  • US Pending Home Sales: February 2019

    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…

  • US House Prices and Softwood Lumber Prices: January 2019

    The Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices Tuesday, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of +2.8% in January 2019, after rising +2.5% in December. On a year-over-year basis, the Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index rose by +4.3% in January, down from a +4.6% increase in December.…