Kevin Mason
The headline numbers coming out of the US continue to point to a robust economy, but the K-shaped bifurcation between income brackets is undeniable. The steady decline (and recent collapse) in real disposable income is concerning. There are many factors that contribute to an individual’s disposable income. Rising energy costs have been a big factor of late (gas prices predominantly), but disposable income was in decline far before its recent dip into negative territory. Inflation has outstripped wage growth in many parts of the private sector, with households often having to tap into savings and/or take on debt to support spending. Another challenge has been high interest rates, and that shows up in the housing market (as well as autos).
…After showing impressive resilience through the first four months of the year, US housing starts capitulated in May, slumping to a seasonally adjusted 1.18MM units (their lowest level since May 2020 at the onset of the pandemic). Single-family starts came in at 882,000, off by 2% m/m and 7% y/y, while multifamily activity was off by a whopping 40% m/m and 14% y/y at just 295,000. That adjusted multifamily number was the lowest reading since November 2024 and came as a shock after multis had decisively outperformed singles through the first four months of the year (averaging an adjusted 478,000 over that period). …To round off a dismal month, home sales data for May gave little reason for optimism. Looking first at new home sales, May’s total of 580,000 (adjusted) was off 7% both m/m and y/y.
The Trump administration surprised no one with its long-expected announcement Wednesday that the U.S. would not join Canada and Mexico in extending the free trade deal between the three countries. Where things go from here, however, with renegotiating the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement is anyone’s guess. One thing is certain: the deal remains in effect while the negotiations happen, as it doesn’t expire for another 10 years. The only circumstance that would change that is an official six-month notice of withdrawal, something Trump has stopped short of threatening to do. Domestic political concerns keep the White House from scrapping the trade agreement, according to Simon Lester, a trade expert at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He says CUSMA has broad support from Republicans in Congress, particularly those from agricultural states. …On paper, according to the text of CUSMA, the three sides could now enter a perpetual series of renegotiations every year.
The Trump administration’s decision to forgo renewal of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on the July 1 deadline has opened a new front in the ongoing trade war — and one with direct consequences for US homebuilders and the mortgage professionals who serve them. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed on Wednesday that the three countries met virtually for the required joint review and that the US declined to extend the agreement in its current form. The USMCA remains in effect until 2036 but will now be subject to annual reviews that could force significant renegotiation of major sections of the treaty, a development that has rattled an already strained construction supply chain. …Canadian softwood lumber already carries a combined duty burden of 45%. That cost has steadily compressed builder margins even as new home demand remains sluggish and housing starts have declined every year since their 2021 peak.
BC Supreme Court Justice Barbara Young sent a chilling message to BC landowners when she refused to reopen the case where she designated Aboriginal title over private land in Richmond. Montrose Properties argued it had never received any formal notification that its fee-simple title could be affected by the outcome. This being the first case where Aboriginal title was applied to private as well as Crown land in BC, the federal, provincial and Richmond city governments all supported reopening the application. …Young didn’t rule out that the Cowichan Nation might someday seek to take over all the private land included in the designation of Aboriginal title. …It will be months and maybe years before her findings and those of the New Brunswick court are reconciled. …In the interim, Young has put provincial landowners on notice that they… are at risk from a claim of Aboriginal title.
VANCOUVER, BC — Canfor Corporation announced it has completed the acquisition of PinkWood Ltd, Western Canada’s largest I-joist facility based in Calgary, Alberta. The acquisition, announced on June 9, 2026, complements Canfor’s existing operations in Alberta and British Columbia “We’re excited to welcome the PinkWood operation, its management team and its employees to the Canfor family,” said Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO of Canfor. “The acquisition represents a strong strategic fit for both companies and supports the continued growth of Canfor’s value-added manufacturing capabilities.” PinkWood will retain its name and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Canfor. The operation will add 120 employees, and 46 million linear feet of annual I-joist production capacity.
BELLEVILLE, Ontario — The government is investing more than $3.3 million in 
WASHINGTON – President Trump said he hasn’t decided whether he will sign a bipartisan housing bill, dismissing the landmark affordable housing legislation as “a big yawn” and “so unimportant” compared to an unrelated bill he supports to overhaul voting in elections. Trump told reporters on Monday, June 29 that he won’t make a decision on The 21st Century Road to Housing Act until it arrives on his desk. The president abruptly canceled a signing ceremony last week for the housing bill and said he won’t sign it until Congress passes the SAVE America Act ‒ a stalled bill he backs that would require photo identification and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and prohibit universal mail-in voting across the country. …The housing bill is the first major piece of legislation that passed Congress in more than three decades to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis.
Two new inspections into kraft pulp and paper mills in Washington have been opened, following ongoing investigations at the Nippon Dynawave mill where a tank failure killed 11 workers. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries said investigations are going on at two other active paper mills in the state that use the same process, where caustic chemical compounds are used to help break down wood into pulp for paper product manufacturing. In the weeks following the implosion of a massive tank at the paper mill that spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals – believed to be the deadliest industrial accident in state history – managers of similar operations have been dialing up their insurance brokers to find out how well they’re protected. One investigation is occurring at a mill run by Smurfit Westrock, also in Longview. The other, run by Port Townsend Paper Company, is in Port Townsend.
Cepi’s 
The U.S. goods trade deficit is widening, the Commerce Department said Friday, suggesting stockpiling ahead of higher tariffs and a continued reliance on imports for the domestic data center rollout, analysts say. The goods trade deficit for May jumped more than $20 billion to $105.8 billion, up from $83 billion in April, according to 
Japan’s housing starts surged 33.9% yoy in May 2026, sharply accelerating from a 11.4% increase in the previous month and marking the second straight month of expansion. It was also the fastest growth since March 2025, topping market expectations of 31.8%. Growth was broad-based across most segments, including owner-occupied homes (31.8% vs 19.5% in April), rental housing (33.3% vs 17.3%), built-for-sale housing (39.2% vs 3.4%), and two-by-four homes (24.8% vs 64.8%). In contrast, prefabricated housing fell 3.4%, swinging from a 11.1% increase in April.
A new federal rule will tighten hazardous-air-pollutant standards for plywood and composite wood products plants, including dryers, presses, refiners and lumber kilns. The 
AUSTRALIA — The completion of the 6-Star Green Star Design redevelopment marks the first mass-timber social housing project in New South Wales, and one of the state’s earliest Class 2 timber apartment buildings. Completed in April 2026, the redevelopment delivers 75 new social homes for 130 tenants across two eight-storey towers and a separate three-storey terrace. …Since the initial concept, the project underwent several development application amendments to accommodate the use of mass timber. …One of cross-laminated timber (CLT)’s greatest advantages is speed. At Glebe, the eight-storey apartment floor was erected in as little as two weeks, while the three storey-terraces were fully completed in just three weeks. More than 2500 cubic metres of CLT and glulam were used in the construction. …The integration of a traditional brick façade introduced a slower, labour-intensive layer that disrupted sequencing. …While Australia is not short on sustainable building ambitions, regulatory frameworks have not kept pace with mass timber construction.
NEW Zealand — Increased trade is key to driving an innovative wood processing and manufacturing sector that will strengthen regional communities, reduce emissions, and build a more resilient and prosperous New Zealand, according to Mark Ross, Chief Executive of the Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association of New Zealand (WPMA). …“This includes supporting trade policies that open markets for high-value wood products, backing programmes such as the Value-Added Wood Exports Growth Accelerator, along with encouraging investment in domestic wood processing to grow the sector,” Mr Ross said. …The policy also highlights leading value-added wood and forestry trade missions into Asia and the Gulf region. The seven priority markets are Brazil, Switzerland, Argentina, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Uruguay and the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). …The Building the Future: New Zealand’s Next Billion Customers’ can be found 
BC’s chief forester has set the new allowable annual cut (AAC), the maximum amount of timber that can be harvested each year, for the Kispiox timber supply area (TSA) in the Skeena region. The new AAC is 496,000 cubic metres, a nearly 50% reduction from the previous AAC. Although the AAC has decreased, it is approximately 39% higher than the average annual harvest between 2019 and 2023, which was 356,378 cubic metres. …The TSA overlaps the territory of the Gitxsan Nation, Gitanyow Nation, Lake Babine Nation, Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation, Kitselas First Nation, Wet’suwet’en Nation, and Witset First Nation. …The Kispiox TSA also partially overlaps with the Nass Wildlife Area and the Nass Area, as defined in the Nisga’a Treaty. The determination aligns with legislation defined in the Nisga’a Treaty and considers interests identified by First Nations, including the management of cedar, old forests, wildlife habitat and wildlife tree retention.
OREGON — The federal government has released its long-awaited proposal to triple logging across three national forests in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington. But critics say the Trump administration’s effort to boost a flagging timber industry in the Blue Mountains could ultimately harm another key pillar of the local economy: Elk hunting. It could also push elk out of forests onto private land, where the animals could damage crops and other property, according to a regional manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The federal government’s plans for the Blue Mountains, which were released in draft form Thursday, could shape logging, recreation and environmental protections across 4.9 million acres spanning the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests for the next 15 years. …And more roads are likely to mean fewer elk. …People can weigh in on the 
Demand for biofuels has been growing in many parts of the world. …Disruption to oil exports via the Strait of Hormuz this year created a further incentive to switch to biofuels to ensure energy security. While biofuels can’t fully replace petroleum, they can be blended into gasoline and diesel, allowing countries to stretch existing fuel supplies. Many environmentalists contest the idea that biofuels are a sustainable alternative source of energy. And as more farmland is used to produce them, there’s less available to make food, increasing the risk of global food shortages and hunger in the poorest nations. …The priciest biofuel is sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, which uses advanced refining processes to convert waste oils into jet fuel that can be blended for use in aircraft. There’s also so-called advanced or second-generation biodiesel, made from non-food sources such as crop waste, wood chips and even algae, which avoids competing with food crops.
LONDON — The United States accounted for about a third of the rise in global carbon emissions in 2025, as higher gas prices pushed power producers back to coal, an Energy Institute report showed. Highlights from the report include:
Across BC, significant wildfires have become an annual occurrence, underscoring the need for forest management practices to reduce long-term wildfire risk. While activities such as prescribed burning are beneficial for fuel management, both wildfire and prescribed fires produce smoke that can pose significant risks to human health. Notably, the impacts of smoke often extend beyond areas directly affected by fire, as smoke can travel significant distances, exposing communities both near and far from the fires. While the health risks specific to prescribed fire smoke remain understudied, the impacts of wildfire smoke on human health are becoming more widely understood. Substantial 
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling forest infernos in heatwave-scarred Europe, as temperatures are set to rise again on Sunday, local time. The latest wildfires have already devastated more than 17,000 hectares of land across France, Spain and Portugal where temperatures in some places are forecast to reach 40C. Authorities registered