According to the October ADP National Employment Report®, private sector employment increased by 365,000 jobs from September to October.
Wood Markets News
Home Prices Jump 7.3% Year-Over-Year
CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solution provider released today (12/2) the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI™) and HPI Forecast™ for October 2020. According to the HPI year-over-year home prices nationally increased 7.3%.
Canada Prepares to Initiate a New Tax on Foreign Non-Resident Speculative Home Purchases
Canada has announced that it is preparing to initiate a new tax on foreign non-resident speculative purchases of homes in the country. The new tax was mentioned in the Fall Economic Statement, which was published on Monday (12/1), but offered few details.
Mortgage Applications Increased 3.9% in Week Ending November 27th, 2020
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending November 27th, 2020, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased -0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -32% compared with the previous week.
Construction Employment is Down in Three-fourths of all of the States Since February
Analysis provided by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) of recently release government data reveals that construction employment in October remained depressed compared to pre-pandemic levels in three-fourths of states. This in spite of the fact 36 states and D.C. added new construction jobs in October.
North America’s First Mass Timber Hotel Opens in Austin Texas
The first mass timber hotel to be constructed in North America has opened in Austin Texas. The Hotel Magdalena is located on land once owned by Willie Nelson and home to the Terrace Motor Hotel (the place to see and be seen at the time), is the latest from Bunkhouse Group, a Texas-based hospitality company.
Texas CLT Announces their Magnolia Arkansas Cross Laminated Facility Has Received TP Certification
Texas CLT has announced that their Magnolia Arkansas Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) facility has been certified by Timber Products (TP). Texas CLT has been producing CLT panels since 2019 at the facility but prior to the certification their use was limited to crane mats, bridge panels, and shoring wall markets.
Expanded Suburban\Exurbs Construction Continued Through Q3 2020
A growing trend identified by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) in Q2 of housing being built in lower-density areas, has continued into Q3. As single-family and multifamily construction continued to overperform in lower cost markets – i.e. the suburbs and exurbs.
Statistics Canada Reports Real Gross Domestic Products Expanded in Q3
Statistics Canada reported today (12/1) the real gross domestic product (GDP) in Canada expanded at a rate of 8.9% in Q3 of 2020. This following an -11.3% fall in Q2 of 2020 and a -1.9% drop in Q1.
U.S. Census Bureau Reports Construction Spending Increased in October
The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that total construction spending during October 2020 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,438.5 billion, 1.3% above the revised September estimate of $1,420.4 billion. The October figure is 3.7% above the October 2019 estimate.