The National Association of Realtors® reported on Wednesday their Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI) declined 8.6% in June to a reading of 91.0. The PHSI has now declined in six out of the past seven months. Year-over-year contract signings have declined 20.0%.
Wood Markets News
Mercer International to Purchase Outstanding Shares of the Parent Company of HIT
Mercer International Inc. announced on Friday that it had entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the parent company of Holzindustrie Torgau (“HIT”) for consideration of €270 million, inclusive of forecasted net working capital of approximately €43 million.
Boise Cascade Company Completes Purchase of Coastal Plywood Company
Boise Cascade Company reported on Monday that it had completed its previously announced purchase of Coastal Plywood Company and its manufacturing operations in Chapman, Alabama, and Havana, Florida, for $512 million.
BC Government Funding Helps Company Convert Damaged Trees Into Engineered Wood Products
The BC provincial government has made funds available to Deadwood Innovations, a joint venture with the Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation. Deadwood Innovations has received $200,000 (CAD) to support the creation of jobs and accelerate Indigenous participation in the forest sector.
Mortgage Applications Decline in the Week Ending July 22, 2022, Marking Fourth Drop in a Row
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending July 22, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased 1.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Canadian Government Funding Hybridized Mass Timber Materials Development Study
The Government of Canada, through the Green Construction Through Wood Program, is funding a study of hybridized mass timber materials to be developed for achieving reduction in carbon emissions and expansion in design possibilities. Construction firms EllisDon and DIALOG have been the recipients of more than $550,000 (CAD) of the funding.
New Home Sales Decline Month-Over-Month and Year-Over-Year in June 2022
On Tuesday, the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced that new residential single-family home sales for June were at a SAAR of 590,000, according to estimates. This is 8.1% below the revised May rate of 642,000.
GP Lumber Business Collaborating With Mass Timber Industry Leader on New Ponce City Market Loft
Georgia Pacific’s lumber business is collaborating with a leader in the mass timber industry on a new four-story loft office building in Atlanta’s famous Ponce City Market. It will be the first application of southern yellow pine lumber in mass timber construction.
FHFA Reports US Home Prices Rose Month-Over-Month and Year-Over-Year in May 2022
According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index released today, nationwide US home prices rose 1.4% month-over-month in May. Year-over-year (May 2021 versus May 2022) home prices have increased 18.3%.
US to Plant More Trees to Offset Impact of Climate Change
As US officials work to counteract the increasing toll on the nation’s forests from wildfires, insects, and other signs of climate change, the Biden administration said the government will plant more than one billion trees across millions of acres of burned and dead woodland in the Western US.