According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending April 9, 2021, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased -3.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -3% compared with the previous week.
Wood Markets News
The Province of British Columbia to Fund 12 Mass Timber Demonstration and Research Projects
The Province of British Columbia has announced that it is funding 12 mass timber demonstration and research projects and has established a new advisory council to accelerate the adoption of mass timber building systems, as part of the Province’s economic recovery.
Mass Timber Construction and Technology to Merge in New Mass-Timber Office Building in Vancouver, BC
Texas-based Hines, a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a
presence in 25 countries, has linked with PC Urban of Vancouver to build the largest and tallest mass-timber office building in Western Canada.
Homes Continue to Sell in Record Time and at a Record Price, But Are We Near the Peak?
Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology powered real estate brokerage is reporting that for the 4-week period ending on April 4, 2021, the median home-sale price has increased year-over-year (y-o-y) 17% to $338,225, setting yet another new all-time record high. The asking prices of newly listed homes rose 16% y-o-y, to $ 351,851, an all-time high, but were flat from the four-week period ending March 28, 2021.
Shares of Mortgages in Forbearance Decline for Sixth Straight Week in Week Ending April 4, 2021
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 24 basis points from 4.90% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 4.66% as of April 4, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.3 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Increased Year-Over-Year 2.6% and 0.6% in March
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6% in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.4% in February and 0.3% in January.
Small Business Optimism Index Increases in March
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), one of the largest small business associations in the U.S., is reporting that their NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose 2.4 points in March to a reading of 98.2. March’s reading is the first return to the historical reading since last November.
Skyrocketing Lumber and Panel Costs Have Failed to Trickle Down to Forest Landowners
A Federal Reserve Board report reveals that the price index of lumber and wood products almost doubled from April 2020 to February 2021 — the sharpest rise since 1946, when the post-World War II housing boom kicked in. Any trip to your local lumber store will confirm that prices are spiking.
Rayonier Advance Materials Announces the Sale of its Lumber and Newsprint Facilities to GreenFirst Forest Products
Rayonier Advance Materials (RYAM), a global leader in high purity cellulose pulp, and GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (GreenFirst), a Canadian lumber company, announced today that the parties have entered into a binding asset purchase agreement in which RYAM has agreed to sell all of its six lumber and one newsprint facilities and related assets located in Ontario and Quebec to GreenFirst for an expected purchase price of approximately $214 million (USD), including inventory on hand at the time of closing, which will be payable in approximately 85% cash, 15% common shares of capital GreenFirst.
Residential Construction Investment in Canada Sets New Record High Level in February
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that record levels have been reported for investment in residential construction since September 2020, and they reached a new record high of $12.3 billion in February 2021. A majority of the growth is coming from single-family home construction, which rose for a fifth consecutive month, up 9.4% to $6.7 billion in February.