According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending June 11, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — increased by 4.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 15% compared with the previous week.
Wood Markets News
Canadian Housing Starts Edge Higher in May
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is reporting that the trend in housing starts was 280,779 units in May 2021, up slightly from 278,462 units in April 2021. This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
North Carolina’s Building Code Council Issues an Alert on the Use of European Lumber in Home Building
North Carolina’s Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey issued an alert on Monday (6-14-21) in regard to European lumber being used in the construction of homes and buildings throughout the state. The Building Code Council has determined European lumber, which is being imported to help with the nation’s lumber shortage, does not meet N.C. building code requirements and, in some cases, could cause catastrophic failures in wall, floor and roof framing.
Softwood Lumber Sends Canada’s Industrial Product Price Index 3.1% Higher in May
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) is up by 3.1% month-over-month in May, marking the IPPI’s sixth consecutive monthly increase. Year-over-year, the IPPI was up 16.9% — the largest increase since January 1975 when it was up 17.7%.
Builder Confidence in Newly Built Single-Family Homes Declines 2 Points in June
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) is reporting that builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes declined 2 points to a reading of 81 in June. This is its lowest level since August of 2020 and after builder confidence topped at a level of 90 last November.
Producer Price Index for Final Demand Increases 0.8% in May
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (6-15-21) that the Producer Price Index for final demand, seasonally adjusted, increased 0.8% percent in May. Final demand prices rose 0.6% in April and 1.0% in March and 0.5% in February.
Shares of Mortgages in Forbearance Decline for Fifteenth Week in a Row in Week Ending June 6, 2021
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 12 basis points from 4.16% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 4.04% as of June 6, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate that still 2 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
PotlatchDeltic Corp Confirms Blaze at the Ola, Arkansas Sawmill
PotlatchDeltic Corporation is confirming reports of a fire at their Ola, Arkansas, sawmill on the morning of Sunday June 13, 2021. The fire occurred in the primary log breakdown area of the mill. The planer mill, kiln and shipping department were not impacted by the blaze.
Demand for Second Homes Continued to Cool in May
According to Redfin, the Seattle-based technology-powered real estate brokerage company, the number of buyers who locked in mortgage rates to purchase a second home nationwide rose 48% year-over-year in May. While that is a lofty number, it is the first time in a year that annual growth rate fell below 80%.
New Zealand’s Log Exports Have Domestic Wood Industry Leaders Fearing for their Survival
Having sold off much of the Crown forestry estate over 30-years ago, most of New Zealand’s (NZ) forestry lands are currently in private hands. Today the NZ government is looking for those private forestry land holders to help them with carbon offsets, provide enough timber for housing, and earn export income and supply biofuels and biocoal to fill the countries’ vehicles and boilers.