The first full back-to-work / school week for September 2019 did not bode well for North American construction framing softwood lumber prices, said Madison’s Lumber Reporter Monday.While wholesaler prices of many wood home building materials stayed flat, and there were two panel mill and one sawmill curtailment announcement, overall demand was not encouraging for an improving market before winter sets in.Due to production cuts, many operators — at sawmills and plywood and OSB producers as well — were able to…

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As always Madison’s Lumber Reporter is working hard to bring the best and latest information to the North American softwood lumber manufacturing industry …. today we are happy to reveal that: (prices US$ per msf. stocking wholesaler market in US Northeast / New Jersey) Madison’s Lumber Reporter has secured enough sources to be able to start carrying US construction panel (Oriented Strand Board and Douglas-Fir Plywood in various sizes) prices. For now we are still testing this latest *new softwood…

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We have been receiving so many queries, due to the non-stop epic blundering of our competition, so are releasing one-time only, and until Monday morning only, the full price list and market commentary taken from Madison’s Lumber Prices online dashboard tool: https://www.forest2market.com/madisons-lumber-reporter CLICK TO DOWNLOAD! *Limited Time Only: Until Monday Morning* The .pdfs were deleted Monday morning, contact our office for more info. Madison’s Full Softwood Lumber Price List Sept 6, 2019 CLICK TO DOWNLOAD! *Limited Time Only: Until Monday…

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“But for how long?”, asked Madison’s Lumber Reporter Tuesday as the ups-and-downs of North America construction framing softwood dimension lumber prices for 2019 remain baffling. A good look at the latest US housing starts and home sales data — coming this week from Madison’s — shows continued strong increases. Indeed, US ‘homes for sale inventories’ are decreasing steadily even as house prices push further upward. So why does the lumber market seem so soft? Keep reading to find out more:…

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Just back from Haida Gwaii and still picking the northern Sitka spruce sap out of our hair, Madison’s quotes a large-volume North America softwood lumber trader in describing this mid-summer 2019 construction framing wood demand as a “s-lumber” market. As further sawmill curtailments were announced, specifically (again) in British Columbia, many lumber-selling players literally took the beginning of August off “gone fishin’.”The latest housing starts data out of the US continued to show steady improvement, providing zero insight into why…

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North American softwood lumber traders on both sides of the border described sales as sloppy and “uninspiring.” Lumber demand at the wholesaler level in Canada and the US last week was lackadaisical at best and disinterested at worst. While home construction and sales activity in the US is slowly improving, there has been no increase in demand since the large sales volumes of one year ago. Operators in Canada have made more inroads to selling lumber products into new and…

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NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the US Census Bureau reveals that mortgages backed by the FHA made up 17.9%, or 32,000, of total sales, at 179,000 units, +7.3 percentage points higher than 2Q 2018 (20,000). The FHA share is the highest it has been since the first quarter of 2013. Conventional loans accounted for 69.3% of new home sales in 2Q 2019, a +0.7 percentage point increase from 1Q 2019. Cash purchases accounted…

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In 4Q 2018, the building of 56,950 apartment units in the US was completed, an -18% decline from 4Q 2017, when it was 69,640 units. (Figure 1 below). Apartment completions in 4Q 2018 were at their lowest point since 4Q 2013. These data come from the US Census Bureau, in collaboration with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the Survey of Market Absorption (SOMA). The SOMA contains data on completions of nonsubsidized, privately financed apartments in buildings…

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According to estimates from the US Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department Wednesday, single-family housing starts in the US improved in June, consistent with the recent stabilization of the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Single-family starts increased 3.5% to a 847,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace in June. Privately‐owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,253,000. This is -0.9% below the revised May estimate of 1,265,000, but is +6.2% above the June 2018 rate…

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