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.
Wood Markets News
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.
Freres Lumber Attains ASTM Certified Environmental Declaration for Mass Ply Panels
Freres Lumber Co. has published its first Environmental Product Declaration (EDP) for its Mass Ply Panel (MPP). Product specific information in the report was independently validated by the internationally recognized standards organization ASTM International.
Over 50% of Houses Sold in November Evolved into a Bidding War
According to Redfin, the Seattle-based real estate brokerage firm, 53.6% of home offers written by their agents ended up in a bidding war.