Total housing starts in the US for March 2022 increased by +0.3% from February, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.793 million units.
This is an almost +4% improvement from the same month one year ago, when it was 1.725 million.
Meanwhile, March permits for future homebuilding were also almost flat, up +0.4% from the previous month, to 1.873 units, compared to 1.865 million in February.
March 2021 permits are up +6.7% compared to one year ago, when it was 1.755 million.
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Looking at lumber prices, dropping slightly from the previous week, for the week ending April 22, 2022 the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$1,060 mfbm, down -$36, or -3%, from the previous week when it was $1,096, said forest products industry price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter.
That week’s price is down by -$323, or -23% from one month ago when it was $1,383.