The Conference Board is reporting that U.S. consumer confidence dropped for a second straight month in December. The result of a deterioration in the labor market amid renewed business restrictions to slow the raging pandemic offset the rolling out of a vaccine for COVID-19.
Wood Markets News
Federal Housing Authority Extends Foreclosure and Eviction Moratorium Through February 28th, 2021
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced (12/21) that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is providing a two-month extension of its foreclosure and eviction moratorium, and initial forbearance requests through Sunday, February 28th, 2021.
U.S. Census Bureau Reports Apartment Absorption Rate Increased While Rents Declined in Q2 2020
The recently released U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Market Absorption (SOMA) reveal that the absorption rate of unfurnished, unsubsidized apartments (the share rented out in the first three months following completion) moved up to 60% in Q2 of 2020, up from 55% in Q2 of 2019.
The Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Increases Modestly in the Week Ending December 13th, 2020
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance increased slightly from 5.48% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.49% as of December 13, 2020. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.7 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
Existing Home Sales Decline -2.5% in November – Year-Over-Year are 25.8% Better
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is reporting that total existing home sales for November, which are completed transaction that include single-family homes, townhomes condominiums and co-ops decreased -2.5% from October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million in November.
U.S. Forest Service Reports 2020 Wildfire Season Set New Record for Acres Burned in National Forests
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is reporting that 2020’s wildfire season saw the largest number of acres burned in national forests since 1910, which was when previous high record was set. As of December 18th, 2020, 181,234 acres have been reported burned this year in Alaska and 10,069,213 in the other 49 states.
HS Timber Breaks Ground on New Sawmill in Belarus
HS Timber Group, began construction of a new sawmill in Grodno region of Belarus. The softwood mill will process pine and spruce logs and is expected to have an annual operating capacity of 500,000 m3 when completed in the spring of 2022.
Zillow Research Predicting 2021 Housing Market to be Even Stronger than 2020’s
Zillow, the Seattle-based American online real estate marketplace company is predicting that the for-sale housing market which showed incredible strength in 2020, will be even stronger in 2021. In their forward-looking research Zillow expects demand to continue to stay high and is expecting a surge in cities as economies reopen.
Canadian Confidence Index Increases for Third Straight Week
The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index (CCI), a composite measure of Canadians financial health and economic expectations, rose for a third-straight week to 54.2 on Friday (12/18), almost exactly where it was in mid-March when widespread restrictions were imposed to limit the spread of Covid-19.
Western Wildfire Season 2020 Cost Insurers $7 – $13 Billion in Insured Losses Through November
The wildfire season of 2020 in the western United States has cost insurers anywhere from $ 7 – $13 billion in insured losses through November.