Wood Markets News


The Ongoing Pandemic Continues to Increase the Appeal of Homeownership

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Q1 2021, Housing Trends Report (HTR), 16% of American adults are considering purchasing a home within the next 12-months. That is a 6-point increase over 2020, and marks the third (and largest) year-over-year gain in the share of prospective buyers in the HTR’s history.

New Residential Single-Family Home Sales Soar in March

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new residential single-family home sales for March 2021 were at a SAAR of 1,021,000, according to estimates. This is 20.7% above the revised February rate of 846,000 and is 66.8% above the March 2020 estimate of 612,000.

Canadian Unemployment Increases 3.6% in February

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that February Employment Insurance (EI) reflecting the week of February 14 through February 20, shows the number of Canadians receiving regular EI benefits rose 3.6% (+53,000) to 1.5 million in February, following an 11.2% increase in January.

Existing Home Sales Decline in March, Rise 12.3% Year-Over-Year

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is reporting that total existing home sales — which are completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — declined in March for the second month in a row, down -3.7% below February to a seasonally adjusted rate at 6.01 million homes.

Conference Board Reports U.S. Leading Economic Index® Increases 1.3% in March

The Conference Board, which was founded in 1916 as a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank, released today (4-22-21) their March 2021 Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. According to the release, the LEI, which is based on ten separate components, increased 1.3% in March to 111.6 (2016 = 100), following a -0.1% decrease in February and a 0.5% increase in January.

Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending April 17, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 547,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday April 17, 2021 — a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level of initial claims since March 14, 2020.