Australia is facing an unusual problem with finding a home for much of their below sawmill standard logs. These logs include those cut down in plantation thinning, are piling up in regional areas further south as operators avoid the cost of carting them to once-busy port stockyards.
Wood Markets News
Accelerated New Home Sales Growth Helps to Reduce the Volume of Outstanding Construction Loans
According to survey data gathered by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) the volume of residential construction lending posted a modest decline during Q4 of 2020. This continues a pattern of volume declines that began at the end of 2019.
New Family Home Size Stabilize in Q4 2020 as Pandemic Shifts Consumer Preferences
According to Q4 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completion by Purpose and Design and analysis provide by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) after years of decline, new home sizes did level off in 2020.
U.S. Home Prices Increase 10.8% Between Q4 2019 to Q4 2020
According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index (HPI®) U.S. house prices increased 10.8% between Q4 of 2019 and Q4 of 2020.
S&P CoreLogic Reports Annual Home Prices Gained 10.4% to Closeout 2020
On Tuesday, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, which covers all nine U.S. Census divisions, reported that home prices experienced a 10.4% annual gain in December 2020, up from 9.5% in November.
Shares of Mortgages in Forbearance Continued Decline in Week Ending February 14, 2021
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 7 basis points from 5.29% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.22% as of February 14, 2021.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Continued to Improve in February
The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank, which was founded in 1916, released today (2-23-21) their Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) for February 2021. The Index now stands at 91.3 (1985=100), up from 88.9 in January.
Town House Construction Reaches a 2.5 Year High in Q4 2020
Analysis of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau’s data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals that townhouse construction expanded to a 2.5 year high during Q4 of 2020.
New Family Home Size Stabilize in Q4 2020 as Pandemic Shifts Consumer Preferences
According to Q4 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completion by Purpose and Design and analysis provide by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), new home sizes did level off in 2020 after years of decline. This was driven by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and home buyers’ need for additional space as people use their homes for more purposes.
Oregon Logging Companies are Racing the Clock Trying to Harvest Damaged Logs from the Archie Creek Fire
Logging throughout most of Oregon and especially in Douglas County is bustling as logging companies rush to harvest whatever damaged lumber they can from the 131,542-acre burn scar which was the Archie Creek Fire. Log decks at Douglas County sawmills have not been this full since the late 1980’s.