Contracts for new, single-family home sales in the US inched down -0.7% in September to a 701,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. The decline came off a downwardly revised August estimate, which was decreased from an initial reading of 713,000 to a new…

After reaching 17-month high last month, existing home sales in the US, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Tuesday, fell more than expected in September 2019 despite low mortgage rates. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped -2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million in September.…

Last week Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr rose +$2 to close at US$370 mfbm. Last week’s price is -$12 less than it was one month ago. However compared to one year ago, when it was US$356 mfbm, this price is up +$14, or almost +4%. In a time when literally no one knows what is…

In November 2016 Madison’s was co-author of an economics study on the impacts of the 2006 Canada-US Softwood Lumber Agreement on each of Canada’s provincial forest industries: The full report “Province Specific Impacts of the 2006 United States-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement: A Seemingly Unrelated Regression Approach” is available for a small fee here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934117303209 AbstractIn…

The Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index, reported September 24 by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of +3.2% in July 2019, following an increase of +3.4% in June. On a year-over-year basis, the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index rose by +3.3% in July.See Full Details Here:…

The price of benchmark construction framing dimension softwood lumber commodity Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr dropped another -$8 last week as customer reluctance to buy won over supplier stubbornness to keep prices higher. For their part, many specialty items like Douglas fir green, studs in Eastern Canada, and plywood, dropped significantly as players were better…

Benchmark North America construction framing dimension softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&btr prices are mostly level into mid-October 2019. Full price list will be released tomorrow, Friday morning, by 8:30am Eastern time! Don’t miss out . . . sign up now to receive this vital and timely information directly to your desktop every…

Most North American construction framing dimension softwood lumber commodities last week achieved price levels seen at this time in 2017, while benchmark item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&btr price now matches this week last year. After soaring to record-level highs during the 2018 US home building season, softwood lumber prices slid inexorably downward well into…