Wood Markets News


University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index Drops to 5-month Low in July’s Preliminary Report

The University of Michigan today (Friday 7-16-21) released its preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) for July. Concerns about rising prices has led to a sharp drop in buying conditions for ‘big-ticket’ items and resulted in the decline. The CSI fell to a five-month low to a reading of 80.8 from 85.5 in June. Consumers expect inflation to rise 4.8% over the next year, the highest since August 2008.

Canadian Homes Sales Decline for Third Consecutive Month in June

Data released today (7-15-21) by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reports that Canadian national home sale decreased -8.4% between May and June 2021. This marks the third straight monthly decline since activity hit an all-time record in March 2021. While sales are now down a cumulative -25% from their peak, and below every other month in the last year, June transactions still managed to set a record for that month.

Setra Group Announces Investment in New Saw Line for Small Diameter Logs at their Skinnskatteberg Mill

Setra Group, one of Sweden’s largest wood products companies with eight sawmills and three processing plants, announced on Tuesday (7-13-21) that they were investing in a new saw line for small diameter logs at their facility in Skinnskatteberg. The investment will provide major efficiency improvement and increase resource utilization.

Remodeler Confidence Continued to Grow in Q2 2021

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today (7-15-21) released their Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for Q2 2021. The RMI posted a reading of 87, up 14 points from Q2 of 2020 and a sign of remodelers increasing confidence in their markets, for all size projects.

Bidding Wars Slow as More Available Homes Hit the Market

According to a recently released report from Redfin, the Seattle-based technology-powered real estate brokerage, the number of offers written by their agents that faced competition declined from 72.1% in May to 65% in June — well below the pandemic peak of 74.1% in April of this year. Nonetheless, that is higher than the 56.6% bidding war rate Redfin saw in June 2020.