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US Producer Price Indexes for Building Materials – March 2015
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday the Producer Price Indexes for March, reporting that inflation in prices received by producers increased 0.2 per cent in March after a string of monthly declines. The overall increase was led by increasing prices for energy, mainly gasoline. Prices for services rose 0.1 per cent. As for building…
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National Multi Housing Council Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions – April 2015
All four indexes landed above the breakeven level of 50 in the April National Multifamily Housing Council Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions. The Market Tightness Index increased by 7 points from last quarter (and by 2 points from a year earlier) to 58. Thirty-one per cent of respondents reported tighter conditions than three months…
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US Housing Starts: March 2015
Groundbreaking on new US homes increased 2 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 926,000 units in March, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That left the bulk of February’s decline, which had been blamed on bad weather, intact. New single-family homes building rose 4.4 per cent. Groundbreaking for the multi-family homes segment fell…
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Canada Monthly Survey of Manufacturing
Manufacturing sales declined 1.7 per cent to $50 billion in February, the fourth decrease in five months, said Statistics Canada Wednesday. The drop reflected lower sales of motor vehicles and reduced production of aerospace products and parts. Monthly manufacturing sales have fallen 6.8 per cent since their most recent high of $53.7 billion in July…
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Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 Dimension Lumber Price 2015: Steep Drops
In a potentially alarming development, benchmark Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr construction framing dimension lumber prices have dropped much farther than similar commodities in the past year. Eastern Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr prices fell 16.5 per cent since April 2014, from US$437 mfbm to US$365 mfbm this week (net FOB mill). By comparison, Southern Yellow…
