The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance fell by 2 basis points from 3.50% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.48% as of July 18, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.74 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
Wood Markets News
More than 85 Large Wildfires Have Already Burned 1.4 Million Acres Across the U.S.
There are more than 85 large wildfires burning throughout the U.S., most of them are in Western states. To date they have burned over 1.4 million acres.
New Home Sales Tumble for Third Month in a Row in June 2021
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new residential single-family home sales for June 2021 were at a SAAR of 676,000, according to estimates. This is -6.6% below the revised May rate of 724,000 and is -19.4% below the June 2020 estimate of 839,000.
More than 250 Wildfires Continue to Burn in British Columbia
The B.C. Wildfire Service is reporting that there are 257 wildfires currently burning throughout the province. That is one less than was being reported at the Saturday update and down from about 300 being reported earlier in the week. Nonetheless, there are still 58 evacuations orders in place that are impacting about 4,400 properties.
Hunt Forest Products and Tolko Industries Announce a Joint Venture to Build a New State-of-the Art Sawmill in Bienville, Louisiana
Hunt Forest Products and Tolko Industries today (7-26-21) announced that they intended to build a $240 million, state-of-the-art sawmill in Bienville Parish near Taylor, Louisiana. The new sawmill project is a joint venture between Hunt Forest Products and Tolko.
Fire Destroys Sawmill Manufacturing Building at Glidden Lumber Co. in Parkman, Maine
A fire last Tuesday (7-20-21) morning destroyed the main sawmill manufacturing building at Glidden Lumber Company in Parkman, Maine. Local officials believe that a faulty piece of machinery was the cause of the blaze.
Nation’s Housing Report for 2021 — from The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) has just released their 40-page State of the Nation’s Housing report for 2021. The report examines a year’s worth of data, trends and issues that are impacting the housing industry. This includes housing policy, market trends, household growth and composition, homeownership, affordability issues, rental markets, and more.
Central Alabama Wood Products Goes High Tech
In June of 2020 when many companies were fighting to keep their doors open, Central Alabama Wood Products, located in Coosa County, Alabama, made the decision to make a major investment in their mill and their future. Pat McGinn with Central Alabama Wood Products notes that “We make a lot of lumber and cross ties here.”
B.C. Premier Calls for Provincial Forestry Companies to Share Profits and Equipment to Help with Wildfires
British Columbia’s Premier John Horgan, while touring the Southeast Fire Centre in Castlegar on Wednesday (7-21), said that he expected other companies to follow the lead of Canfor Corp. in shutting down operations as trains, roads, and forest activity are disrupted by wildfires.
3% of all Single-Family Home Completions in 2020 were Non-Site Built
According to the U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction data, with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the total share of non-site built single-family homes (modular and panelized) was a 3% of single-family completions in all of 2020. The NAHB anticipates that this share is expected to rise moderately in 2021 and in the years ahead.