Author: kkosman

NORTH AMERICA LUMBER MARKET OVERVIEW: Dec 2018 This wacky year ended smoothly for North American forestry operators, as the usual seasonal curtailments, maintenance shutdowns, and inventory control took place at the end of December 2018. Prices on most construction framing softwood lumber commodities stayed flat from the previous week, or moderated downward slightly. Most players…

Watching inventory helps understand the housing market: US housing for sale inventory, on a national basis, was up +2.8% year-over-year (YoY) in October, this was the third consecutive YoY increase, following over three years of YoY declines, explained Calculated Risk Tuesday. Elsewhere, Zillow data shows the number of available homes increased by +3% year-over-year, making…

EUS existing-home sales increased in November, according to the National Association of Realtors® Wednesday, marking two consecutive months of increases. Three of four major US regions saw gains in sales activity last month. Total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased +1.9% from October to a seasonally adjusted rate of…

 The pace of single-family starts in the US declined for the third consecutive month as housing affordability concerns continue to weigh on the home construction market, according to a joint data release from the US Census Bureau and HUD Tuesday.  Total starts posted a +3.2% increase due to gains for multifamily development. The November rate of…

Previously overblown North America softwood lumber and panel prices for most of 2018 have dropped sharply these past couple of months. That plummet slowed last week as the supply-demand balance corrected. Producers and customers, having wrestled over prices since the usual seasonal slow-down starting in September, are now assessing inventories for year-end accounting purposes. Players…