According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), new single-family starts expanded at an accelerated pace in 2020. Nationally, 993,635 new single-family units were started in 2020.
Wood Markets News
Australia’s Building Boom Leads to a Surge in Sawmill Employment
According to analysis provided by the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA), the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a building boom in the country, and as a result Australia’s timber framing sawmills have increased employment by almost 25%. This analysis is in stark contrast to reported Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) global trends that suggested that timber processing employment would fall.
Listing of Homes For Sale Increase Just as Home Buying Demand Fades
According to the latest report from Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology-powered real estate brokerage, for the week ending July 4, 2021, the number of newly listed homes for sale surpassed 2019 levels for the first time since the start of the year.
Nova Scotia Forestry Innovation Transition Trust to Invest $6.1 Million in New Center for Forest Innovation
Formed after the closure of the Northern Pulp mill in January 2020, the Forestry Innovation Transition Trust in Nova Scotia announced it will invest $6.1 million (CAD) over four years for the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) to create a new Centre of Forest Innovation at its Truro, N.S. campus.
Wildfire Season Well Ahead of 2020’s Disastrous Pace in California and Other States and Provinces
A dry winter and early heat waves have the entire State of California is in the grip of drought, much of it classified as extreme or exceptional. So far this year, the number of wildfires and the amount of land burned in bone dry California has greatly exceed totals for the same period in the disastrous wildfire year of 2020. Between 1st January 1, 2021 and July 4, 2021, there have been 4,599 separate fires that have scorched 114.8 square miles.
Moelven Announces $70 million Investment to Upgrade and Increase Capacity at Two Swedish Sawmills
Moelven Industriers ASA has announced that they will be investing more than SEK 600 million ($70 million) in modernizing and increasing capacity at two of their sawmills in the years to come. At the Moelven Edanesågen AB facility, the entire production process from timber sorting, timber intake, will include a new saw line and new dryer that will increase the mills capacity.
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchasing Sentiment Index Reveals Changes in Buyer and Seller Outlooks
Fannie Mae on Wednesday (7-7-21) released their Home Purchasing Sentient Index® (HPSI) for June. Overall, the HPSI was little changed, decreasing by -0.3 points to a reading of 79.7. This occurred despite even greater volatility among its underlying components.
African Forestry and Timber Trading Firm Woodbois Limited Reports Improved Revenues in H1 2021
Woodbois Limited, an African forestry and timber trading firm, has reported increased revenues in the first 6-months of 2021 and expects sawn timber output to grow by 30% in the remain 6-months of the year. Woodbois, with sawmilling and veneer operations in Gabon, recorded revenues of US$8.2 million in the first 6-months of 2021, up from US$6.7 million, in the previous six-month period.
Mortgage Rates Drop to 2.90% in the Week Ending July 8, 2021
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending July 8, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.90% with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.98%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.03%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending July 3, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 373,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, July 3, 2021. This is an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 394,500, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average.