Sales of new single-family houses in the US for March 2021 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.021 million, according to estimates released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
This is up +21% from the revised Feb 2021 rate of 846,000 and up an astonishing +67% compared to the March 2020 rate, which was at a revised rate of 612,000.
Unrelenting and extremely motivated demand accounts for this incredibly sharp rise. New-home purchases account for about 10% of the market and are calculated when contracts are signed. They are considered a timely barometer of the current real estate market.
Rising further after reaching seemingly impossible highs, in the week ending April 23, 2021, the wholesaler price of benchmark softwood lumber commodity item Western S-P-F KD 2×4 #2&Btr was US$1,330 mfbm. This is up by +$120, or +9%, from the previous week when it was $1,210.
That week’s price is up by +$290, or +28%, from one month ago when it was $1,040.