Wood Markets News


Weekly Jobless Claims Decline Further in the Week Ending October 23, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 281,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, October 23, 2021 — a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial job claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000.

Increasing New Home Prices Have Prospective Buyers Looking at Alternatives

According to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Trends Report (HTR), the number of prospective buyers looking for a newly built home has declined steadily since reaching 42% in Q4 of 2020. In Q3 of 2021, that number was down to 32%. Of course, when compared to Q1 of 2018, when there were only 15% of prospective buyers looking for a new home, it looks rather substantial.

Mortgage Applications Increase 0.3% in the Week Ending October 22, 2021

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending October 22, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — increased 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.2% compared with the previous week.

West Fraser to Announces Purchase of Georgia Pacific’s Allendale, South Carolina OSB Mill

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. Announced today (10-26-21) that it has entered into agreement to acquire Georgia Pacific’s oriented strand board (OSB) mill located near Allendale, South Carolina for approximately $280 million (USD). The transaction is expected to close following the successful completion of U.S. regulatory review and satisfaction of customary conditions.