Category Archives: Finance & Economics

Finance & Economics

Value of building permits issued in Canada decreased in January

Statistics Canada
March 13, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

In January, the total value of building permits issued in Canada decreased by $425.8 million (-3.2%) from the previous month to $12.8 billion. Ontario (-$771.1 million) led the decline, while New Brunswick (+$356.8 million) tempered it the most. On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), the total value of building permits issued in January declined 2.5% from the previous month, while it was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. …Across Canada, 23,500 multi-family dwellings and 4,900 single-family dwellings were authorized in January, down 3.7% from the previous month, but up 37.4% on a year-over-year basis. …The value of non-residential building permits decreased by $113.0 million (-2.7%) to $4.0 billion in January, a fourth consecutive monthly decrease. The industrial component (-$285.0 million) drove the decline, followed by the institutional component (-$87.4 million). The commercial component (+$259.4 million) mitigated the decline in the non-residential sector.

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The Reason So Much of America’s Lumber Comes From Canada

By Karuna Eberl
Family Handyman
March 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Now that a 25% tariff on lumber from Canada is looming, will this cause crazy wood pricing to return? To some extent, that is very probable, and here’s why. In 2024, our country got about 72% of its lumber from its own forests. The rest was imported from various countries, especially Canada, from which we purchased 28.1 million cubic meters last year. Canada accounts for 84.3% of all softwood lumber imports. …While it might be possible to switch to importing more lumber from other countries, none has Canada’s large production capacity. Also, supply chains — especially for lumber — are complex and costly to change, says Frederik Laleicke, at NC State University. …As long as demand for lumber doesn’t drop, a 25% tariff on Canada will likely make lumber—and therefore new houses and renovations—more expensive since US companies will raise the price of Canadian-sourced lumber to compensate for the tariffs.

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Lumber Futures Rebound Amid Trade War Escalation

Trading Economics
March 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber futures rebounded to around $650 per thousand board feet, nearing the two-and-a-half-year high of $658 touched earlier this month as escalating U.S. tariff threats on steel, aluminum, and dairy—along with the prospect of sharply higher auto tariffs—stoked fears of further trade restrictions, reversing the recent plunge. The renewed trade war tensions have heightened concerns that lumber could be the next target, prompting traders to reassess supply risks. Earlier, prices had dropped to around $600 after President Trump delayed a 25% tariff on Canadian softwood for the second time, temporarily easing supply concerns. The proposed levy, which would raise total duties to as much as 52%, could significantly strain North American production and push construction costs higher. However, the latest escalation in the trade war has reversed sentiment, with traders wary that lumber could still face new restrictions, driving speculative buying. [END]

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How tariffs are affecting lumber pricing

By Neil Agarwal, Frisco Woodline
The HBS Dealer
March 12, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

I have received several questions from owners and contractors regarding what to expect with lumber prices given the tariffs (or the potential of tariffs, depending on the day). The short answer is prices will go up. The long answer is much more complicated and hinges on a number of factors and considerations. 1. Almost 30 percent of the lumber used in the U.S. each year comes from Canada. …2. Any tariffs or potential for tariffs creates opportunistic price increases. …3. Demand, however, doesn’t seem to be particularly strong for new construction at this time. …4. Tariffs do help to onshore manufacturing (a long-term positive), but the trees aren’t all in America. …In the short-term, tariffs create more uncertainty and increased pricing, which only further adds to the inflation story. In the long-term, tariffs on lumber won’t achieve the level of onshoring that can happen in other industries. 

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Bank of Canada cuts interest rate to 2.75%

By Jenna Benchetrit
CBC News
March 12, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

The Bank of Canada has cut its overnight lending rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent, it announced on Wednesday. In a note explaining the decision, the bank said the economy started the year strong, with solid GDP growth and inflation within its two per cent target. But tariff uncertainty caused by the on-again, off-again trade war between Canada and the U.S. has weighed on business spending and hiring, and shaken consumer confidence, the decision said. It’s “against this backdrop” that the central bank decided to cut the rate by a quarter point, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem wrote in his remarks. …Macklem has noted in the past that the bank cannot shield the Canadian economy from the financial impact of tariffs, but that it can instead use interest rates to manage a potential surge in inflation.

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US lumber futures slide on Trump’s Canadian tariffs delay

By Susanna Savage
The Financial Times
March 9, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

US lumber futures have fallen from their all-time highs after president Trump’s delay to tariffs on Canada this week halted a surge in prices. Contracts tracking a truckload of lumber hit the highest point in their 30-month history this week. …Trump initially planned to impose 25% tariffs on critical Canadian imports, boosting prices, but Thursday’s pause for a month pushed prices for delivery in May down more than 6% over two days, to $651 per MBF. Even so, prices remain elevated as Trump also ordered a federal investigation into Canadian companies potentially dumping excess supplies into the US market. …Together with potential tariffs, the total duty on Canadian imports could rise from 14.5 per cent to 52 per cent. “This is going to be devastating for Canadian producers,” said Dustin Jalbert, senior economist for wood products at price reporting agency Fastmarkets. “No Canadian producer is making the margin to be able to absorb that.”

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‘Very difficult position’: Bank of Canada expected to cut rate amid trade uncertainty

By Craig Lord
The Canadian Press in CTV News
March 10, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

Tiff Macklem

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada’s interest rate announcement arrives on Wednesday in a cloud of uncertainty thanks to a shifting trade war with the United States. Most economists expect the central bank will deliver another quarter-point rate cut while it waits to see how long the dispute with Canada’s largest trading partner lasts. The Bank of Canada faces a difficult task: setting monetary policy at a time when inflation has shown signs of stubbornness and the economy picks up steam, while risks of a sharp downturn tied to U.S. tariffs loom on the horizon. …Even as U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his promises to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods on March 4, the exact nature of those tariffs have shifted with a series of pauses and amendments in the days since.

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Canfor reports Q4, 2024 net loss of $63 million

Canfor Corporation and Canfor Pulp Products Inc.
March 6, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

VANCOUVER, BC — Canfor Corporation reported its fourth quarter of 2024 results. Highlights include: Q4 2024 operating loss of $46 million; shareholder net loss of $63 million; Supply-driven uptick in North American lumber markets and pricing through the fourth quarter led to improved results from the Company’s Western Canadian and US South operations; another quarter of solid earnings from Europe; Improved results for Canfor Pulp; relatively stable global pulp market fundamentals through most of the fourth quarter, with some positive momentum late in the period; persistent challenges associated with the availability of economic fibre in British Columbia. …Canfor’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Susan Yurkovich, said, “Following several quarters of very weak global lumber market conditions, we were pleased to see a slight uplift in North American benchmark lumber prices during the fourth quarter, which gave rise to improved results across all our lumber operating regions.”

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US faces housing affordability crisis, calls for negotiated end to tariffs on Canadian lumber

By Buddy Hughes, Chairman
The National Association of Home Builders
March 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

WASHINGTON — Implementing policies to alleviate supply-side bottlenecks that are the main drivers of low housing supply and high home prices would help ease the nation’s housing affordability crisis and allow builders to increase the supply of attainable, affordable housing, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told Congress. …To help address these issues, NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes called on Congress to take the following actions:

  • Preserve and strengthen key federal programs including the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, HUD Section 8 housing voucher programs
  • Support workforce development programs such as Job Corps and pass the CONSTRUCTS Act, legislation
  • Responsibly boost the domestic supply of lumber and call on the Trump administration to negotiate a long-term softwood lumber agreement with Canada that will end lumber tariffs, help stabilize this volatile market and give builders greater price stability
  • Pass the Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act
  • Rein in excessive regulatory costs and reassert congressional authority over federal agencies’ rulemaking agendas. 

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Lumber Prices Hit Two-Year High As US Investigates Canadian Softwood

The Globe and Mail
March 5, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber prices have risen to their highest level in more than two years on news that U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into softwood imports from Canada. The lumber probe is the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the neighbouring countries. Analysts say that the investigation lays the groundwork for potential new %Tariffs on Canadian lumber, notably softwood imports. …Consequently, lumber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have risen 3.5% over the past day to trade at $657 U.S. per 1,000 board feet, the highest level since mid-2022. However, while lumber prices are marching higher on the threat of U.S. tariffs, the stocks of Canadian lumber companies are tanking. Shares of Interfor fell 9% while the stock of %Canfor declined 6% in Toronto trading on March 4, the day that the 25% tariffs went into effect.

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Industrial outlook darkens ahead of tariffs

By Michael Rudolph
FreightWaves
March 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

In the run-up to Tuesday’s promised barrage of tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, the U.S. industrial sector is not looking so hot — a dark omen for domestic freight demand. For one, construction spending took an unexpected hit in January, down 0.2% from December against consensus expectations of stability. Outlays for private residential projects fell 0.4%, despite a 0.6% monthly rise in single-family spending. …The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing PMI saw its second straight month of expansion in February, following 26 consecutive months of contraction. …Comments from various sectors all reveal an intense concern over the upcoming tariffs. One anonymous manufacturer of transportation equipment noted that “customers are pausing on new orders as a result of uncertainty regarding tariffs.” …These tariff-induced fears have darkened businesses’ outlook for the year ahead, a quick reversal from January’s jubilance.

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Here’s how tariffs will hit the U.S. housing market

By Diana Olick
CNBC Real Estate
March 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

From lumber to drywall to appliances to finishings, much of what goes into a U.S. home comes from outside American borders. The cost of those products is about to go up, as President Donald Trump’s administration imposes tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada. …The new tariffs could increase builder costs anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000 per home, said Rob Dietz, chief economist at the NAHB, citing estimates from U.S. homebuilders. The greatest impact to homebuilders will be from lumber cost increases, which are expected to total about $4,900 per home on average, according to Leading Builders of America, the trade group representing most of the nation’s publicly traded homebuilders. …Lumber futures are up 5% in the past week and were rising steadily Tuesday. …Beyond lumber, the homebuilding industry is subject to rising costs across the sector. China is the leader in household appliances. And, the majority of drywall is imported from other countries.

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Trump’s tariffs roil U.S. markets. And that’s the reaction that matters

By Alexander Panetta
CBC News
March 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Canada can huff, and puff, but if anything’s going to blow down Trump’s house of tariffs it’s going to be the reaction within the US. And there are signs of pushback. The stock market is turning, economic sentiment is nosediving, the U.S. president’s approval is receding, and American lawyers are preparing lawsuits. Those factors will likely pack more punch in Washington than the $155 billion in counter-tariffs threatened by Canada. …Markets replied by quickly wiping out their entire gains for 2025, with the S&P 500 losing 1.76% on the day, triggering hundreds of billions in losses. …But that modest single-day decline is by no means the only grey cloud on the economic horizon. US consumer confidence has had its sharpest monthly drop since the pandemic. …So now we watch the Americans investors and the courts. For all the talk about how Canada might fight tariffs, the decisive battle is south of the border.

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Lumber Prices Hit 2022 High as Trump Investigates Foreign Imports

By Ilena Peng
Bloomberg News
March 3, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber futures rose to the highest in more than two and a half years after President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into shipments of the commodity into the U.S. Trump on March 1 asked the Commerce Department to investigate the national security harm posed by lumber imports. Those shipments largely come from Canada, which is already facing the threat of 25% tariffs on its goods. The most-active contract in Chicago rose as much as 3.5% to the highest since August 2022. Shares of some Canadian lumber companies slumped on March 3, with Interfor Corp. dropping as much as 9.9%, the most since June 2022. Canfor Corp. fell as much as 3.5%.

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Doman Building Materials reports Q4, 2024 net earnings of $8.3 million

By Doman Building Materials Group Ltd.
The Gazette
February 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

VANCOUVER — Doman Building Materials Group announced today its fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results for the period ended December 31, 2024. …For the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, revenues amounted to $707.8 million, compared to $527.4 million in the same period in 2023. …Net earnings were $8.3 million versus $10.5 million in the comparative period of 2023. …For the year ended December 31, 2024, consolidated revenues increased to $2.7 billion, compared to $2.5 billion in 2023, largely due to the impact of the results of the 2024 acquisitions, which were also offset with the slowing in the construction materials market. Net earnings for the full year were $54.2 million versus $75.8 million in the comparative period of 2023.

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Tariff threat pushes up lumber prices despite average demand

By Joe Pruski
RISI Fastmarkets
March 3, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

The perpetually moving target of tariffs on Canadian lumber shipments to the US frustrated traders and had broad impacts on sales in many species. Despite middling demand, the threat of tariffs combined with relatively tight supplies left many prices higher for the week. The delay in announcement of preliminary AD rates by the Commerce Department injected further uncertainty. Despite inconsistent trading throughout February, the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price recorded its fourth straight increase and hit $461. That is its highest level since July 2023. Western S-P-F sales were steady but uneventful. Canadian mills weighed their responses to potential tariffs with plans ranging from adders on quoted levels to managing production and focusing sales to non-US destinations. Lumber futures were extremely volatile, swinging aggressively to every news report. The Southern Pine market was in disarray as traders processed a constant flow of mixed signals.

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North American construction outlook: US Trump boost comes at a cost for Canada and Mexico

By James Knightley and Coco Zhang
ING Think
February 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

From a supply perspective, the construction sector is vulnerable to President Trump’s immigration controls. …In an environment of falling numbers of American-born workers, this may mean labour supply is constrained in some key sectors including construction, agriculture and leisure & hospitality, which have relatively large immigrant workforces. …As such there is the threat of a perfect storm for US home builders – rising raw material costs, potential worker shortages boosting pay rates with demand constrained by high mortgage rates. In this environment, we see housing starts, which hit a 15-year high of 1.6m in 2021 before falling to 1.55m in 2022, 1.42m in 2023 and 1.36m in 2024 dropping to 1.275m in 2025 and staying at a similar level in 2026 before rising to 1.35m in 2027. …Canada is vulnerable to a painful trade war with the US. …While not introduced yet, the uncertainty that this generates will mean non-residential projects are put on hold. 

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Calculating The Impact Of Lumber Tariffs On New Homes

By Den Shewman
MortgagePoint
February 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Zoltan van Heyningen

The rumor mill has it that the cost of lumber is driving up housing affordability. …A recent study by the U.S. Lumber Coalition found that since 2016, U.S. lumber mills have added eight billion board feet of production capacity and have produced 30 billion additional board feet of softwood lumber. …In addition, the US supplies up to 95% of its own lumber needs today, due to increased U.S. capacity through the enforcement of the U.S. trade laws. Lumber makes up only 1.7% of the price of a new home. Duties on Canadian lumber make up just 0.04% of the price of a new home. That [means]: lumber cost has minimal impact on housing affordability. …“Since Canada relies almost exclusively on the U.S. market to unload its excess lumber production at any cost… this new U.S. self-reliance for its softwood lumber needs is causing panic within the Canadian lumber export industry,” stated Zoltan van Heyningen.

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Prices and Trends in the U.S. Framing Lumber Market

The National Association of Home Builders
February 24, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

The week-to-week framing lumber composite price increased 1.6% on Feb. 21, 2025, rising to $453 per 1,000 board feet. Lumber prices are now 15.6% higher than they were one year ago. …Softwood lumber prices have been especially volatile in recent years largely because of increased demand, rising tariffs, supply-chain bottlenecks and insufficient domestic production. …Surveys conducted by Home Innovation Research Labs show that the average new single-family home uses more than 2,200 square feet of softwood plywood, and more than 6,800 of OSB, in addition to roughly 15,000 board feet of framing lumber. Softwood lumber is also an input into certain manufactured products used in residential construction — especially cabinets, windows, doors and trusses. …As explained in NAHB’s study on regulatory costs, the final home price will increase by nearly 15% above the builder’s cost. The bottom line is that changes in softwood lumber prices directly impact the price of a new home. 

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How Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada will sweep across the U.S., state by state

By Lori Ann LaRocco
CNBC
February 25, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, International

If the Trump administration follows through, the impact on economies across the U.S. will be extensive, and it will vary greatly from state to state. …CNBC looked at the exposure of all 50 states on a country-by-country basis. …The 10 states that have the highest percentage of imports from Canada are: Montana (92%), Maine (69.4%), Vermont (68%), North Dakota (64%), Wyoming (55%), Oklahoma (51%), West Virginia (44%), South Dakota (41%), Minnesota (38%), and Colorado (31%). Energy was the top-dollar import from Canada for all states. The amount of oil imported from Canada is staggering. For example, the value of the oil that Montana imports from Canada — $4.9 billion — is more than 10 times the value of the state’s next biggest import. U.S. states facing exports retaliatory risk. …Looking at the top 10 states that export to Canada, North Dakota topped the list (82%), followed by Maine (49%), Montana (46%), South Dakota (44%), Michigan (43%), Ohio (39%), West Virginia (38%), Idaho (37%), Missouri (37%), and Vermont (34%).

In related coverage: Voters might like tariffs, but not on Canada and Mexico, poll finds

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Tariff uncertainty slows February housing activity in B.C. by over 9%

By Joe Hernandez
CBC News
March 12, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C.’s real estate association says there was a sharp drop in home sales last month. Purchases fell by just under 10 per cent provincewide. As Jon Hernandez reports, tariffs and economic uncertainty could be making buyers think twice.

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Conifex Timber reports Q4, 2024 net loss of $29.8 million

By Conifex Timber Inc.
Globe Newswire in the Financial Post
March 12, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — Conifex Timber reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024. EBITDA from continuing operations was negative $2.1 million for the quarter and negative $13.6 million for the year, compared to EBITDA of negative $3.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and negative $25.8 million for the year. Net loss was $29.8 million for the quarter while it was $11.8 million for the full year. …While there are signs that the macro-environment for the lumber industry is starting to improve, Conifex continues to review its options to improve liquidity. …Since January 6, 2025, we have been operating our sawmill complex on a two-shift basis and capturing the dual benefits of higher shipments and lower unit costs that a two-shift operation provides over a single-shift configuration. 

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Forestry industry questions aspects of B.C.’s budget

By Wolf Depner
Terrace Standard
March 5, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The B.C. Council of Forest Industries (COFI) welcomed B.C.’s responses to American tariffs, but questioned aspects of the provincial budget tabled Tuesday. B.C.’s forests minister, meanwhile, is calling on Ottawa to step up supports.  Kim Haakstad, president and CEO of COFI, said her organization welcomes the budget’s focus on responding to new tariffs announced March 4. “We are disappointed by the absence of dedicated support for the forest sector,” Haakstad said. “As Premier (David) Eby and (Forests) Minister (Ravi) Parmar have acknowledged, the forest sector will be particularly hard hit by the new tariffs at a time when the industry is already facing significant challenges. These broad-based tariffs apply to all forest product exports … adding further pressure on workers, companies and communities already affected by softwood lumber duties.” …COFI remains committed to working with the government to advance solutions that strengthen the forestry sector, improve the provincial economy and diversify markets. 

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B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey on track to deliver budget as Trump slaps tariffs

By Chuck Chiang and Marcy Nicholson
Canadian Press in Victoria Times Colonist
March 3, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA — One day before delivering her first budget, British Columbia’s finance minister said she knows that everyone is wondering how it can be done in the face of unprecedented tariffs from the United States. It is not time to make “deep cuts,” Brenda Bailey said, but a time to plan for uncertainty and ensure programs and services are protected. Experts and economists say the impact from U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods will make the budget one of most consequential for the province in recent memory. …Premier David Eby has called the U.S. tariff threat a “declaration of economic war,” and strongly denounced the duties. …The province cancelled a promised $1,000 grocery rebate and froze some public-sector hiring as it braces for a trade war against what Eby called an “outsized and significantly more powerful foe.” …Jock Finlayson, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, said Bailey’s task is an unenviable one, given the deficit.

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KP Tissue reports Q4, 2024 net loss of $13.7 million

KP Tissue Inc.
March 5, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada East

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — KP Tissue reported its Q4, 2024 and full year 2024 financial and operational results of KPT and Kruger Products. Highlights include: Revenue was $539.6 million in Q4 2024 compared to $482.3 million in Q4 2023, an increase of $57.3 million or 11.9%; and Net loss was $13.7 million in Q4 2024 compared to net income of $16.5 million in Q4 2023, a decrease of $30.2 million. …Kruger Products Full Year 2024 Financial Highlights include: Revenue was $2,049.9 million in Fiscal 2024 compared to $1,873.0 million in Fiscal 2023, an increase of $176.9 million or 9.4%; and Net income was $23.8 million in Fiscal 2024 compared to a net loss of $5.3 million in Fiscal 2023, an improvement in net income of $29.1 million.

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Stella-Jones reports Q4, 2024 net income of $52 million

By Stella-Jones Inc.
GlobeNewswire
February 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada East

MONTREAL — Stella-Jones announced financial results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024. Sales for the fourth quarter of 2024 amounted to $730 million, up 6% from sales of $688 million for the same period in 2023. …Net income for the period amounted to $52 million compared with $56 million in the corresponding period of 2023. …Sales for the year ended December 31, 2024 reached $3,469 million, up 5%, versus sales of $3,319 million in 2023. Net income in 2024 was $319 million, compared to net income of $326 million in 2023. Despite the lower net income, earnings per share in 2024 was higher at $5.66 versus $5.62 in 2023 due to the continued repurchase of shares. …Eric Vachon, CEO of Stella-Jones, “We achieved solid results in our infrastructure product categories, even in the face of softer market demand. We acquired new customers, maintained our expanded EBITDA margin of over 18%, and delivered strong operating cashflows.”

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Softwood Lumber Prices Continue to Lead Price Growth for Building Materials

By Jess Wade
NAHB Eye on Housing
March 13, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Prices for inputs to new residential construction—excluding capital investment, labor, and imports—were up 0.5% in February according to the most recent Producer Price Index (PPI) report published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase in January was revised downward to 1.1%. The Producer Price Index measures prices that domestic producers receive for their goods and services. …The inputs to the New Residential Construction Price Index grew 0.7% from February of last year. …Among materials used in residential construction, lumber and wood products ranks 3rd in terms of importance for the Inputs to New Residential Construction Index. Prices for these wood commodities experienced little growth for most of 2024. Currently, softwood lumber prices were 11.7% higher compared to one year ago while on a monthly basis, prices rose 3.0%. This marks the fourth straight month where yearly price growth was above 10% for softwood lumber.

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Tariffs to add as much as $10,000 to the cost of the average new home, trade association says

By Alex Harring
NBC Los Angeles
March 13, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

President Trump’s tariffs could increase material costs for the average new home by as much as $10,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The trade group said it has received anecdotal reports from members that Trump’s plan would raise material prices by between $7,500 and $10,000 for the average new single-family home. …The NAHB said softwood lumber is mainly sourced from Canada, while gypsum, a component of drywall, comes primarily from Mexico. Other materials like steel and aluminum — in addition to completed home appliances — are imported to the U.S. from China, the group said. An implementation of the 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico as previously laid out by Trump would raise total costs for imported construction materials by more than $3 billion, according to the NAHB.

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US Inflation Eased Ahead of Tariffs

By Fan-Yu Kuo
NAHB Eye on Housing
March 12, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

US Inflation slowed to a 3-month low in February, with decreases in airfares and gasoline partially offsetting shelter increases. Despite the easing, the report does not capture upcoming tariff impacts. The inflationary pressure from tariffs and trade war would weigh on the economy and complicate the Fed’s path to its 2% target. Meanwhile, while housing drove nearly half of February’s inflation increase and remains higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic average of 3.4%, it continues to show signs of cooling – the year-over-year change in the shelter index remained below 5% for a sixth straight month and posted its lowest annual gain since December 2021. While the Fed’s interest rate cuts could help ease some pressure on the housing market, its ability to address rising housing costs is limited. …Consequently, the election result has put inflation back in the spotlight and added additional upside and downside risks to the economic outlook.

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How Rising Costs Affect US Home Affordability

By Na Zhao
The NAHB Eye on Housing
March 10, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Housing affordability remains a critical issue, with 74.9% of US households unable to afford a median-priced new home in 2025, according to NAHB’s latest analysis. With a median price of $459,826 and a 30-year mortgage rate of 6.5%, this translates to around 100.6 million households priced out of the market, even before accounting for further increases in home prices or interest rates. A $1,000 increase in the median price of new homes would price an additional 115,593 households out of the market. The 2024 priced-out estimates for all states and the District of Columbia and over 300 metropolitan statistical areas are shown in the interactive map below. It highlights the growing housing affordability challenges across the United States. In 23 states and the District of Columbia, over 80% of households are priced out of the median-priced new home market. This indicates a significant disconnect between rising home prices and household incomes.

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US Consumer Housing Sentiment Down Year over Year for First Time Since 2023

Fannie Mae
March 7, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

WASHINGTON, DC – The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) decreased 1.8 points in February to 71.6, driven largely by consumers’ increased pessimism that mortgage rates will go down in the next year. The share of consumers who say it is a good time to buy a home inched up last month to 24%, while the share who say it is a good time to sell dipped to 62%. February also saw a notable decline in consumers’ optimism toward their personal financial situation, including household income and concern they could lose their job. Year over year, the HPSI is down 1.2 points. …Mark Palim, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “We continue to expect home sales activity to remain relatively light over our forecast horizon due to the ongoing lack of supply and overall unaffordability.”

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US homebuilders face a supply chain snarl from tariff battles

By Thomas Seal and Prashant Gopal
Bloomberg in The Business Times
March 7, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

President Trump’s push for tariffs on Canada – and his subsequent delays and exemptions – are frustrating efforts to import lumber from the country and putting the building supply market on edge. The back-and-forth over whether tariffs will be imposed or not has businesses unable to trust price stability, and risks backing up the supply chain for US homebuilders. The reluctance to pay a tariff, which could be changed or cancelled any day, “freezes these markets up,” according to Don Magruder, who runs a building material company based in Florida. …Andy Rielly, president of Rielly Lumber in British Columbia, said he’s been in talks with long-term customers on how to divvy up the extra costs, but not everyone has been able to strike deals. …The US’s National Association of Home Builders chairman Buddy Hughes said tariffs risk worsening housing affordability. …The US Lumber Coalition said that lumber prices are only a fraction of homebuilding costs.

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Why the US National Association of Home Builders is hyper focused on tariffs

By Vincent Salandro
Builder Online
March 5, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

The Trump administration is moving at a record pace on a varied list of priorities, but insiders hope a focus on housing will remain at the top of the agenda in 2025. With housing affordability a central focus, bills addressing zoning, permitting, workforce development, and taxes are taking shape. …Despite all these areas of concern, one concern looms largest – tariffs. Approximately 22% of the products used in the average home are imported from China, 70% of lumber used in construction is sourced from Canada, and Mexico is the largest provider of gypsum. …The NAHB has advocated for an exemption for building materials, and the association continues to engage in conversations with lawmakers about the harmful effects these tariffs could have on housing affordability. NAHB’s Karl Eckhart says “These Canadian and Mexican tariffs are going to have a direct and painful impact on the price to build a house.”

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Tariffs could raise prices for new homes—see how much more it could cost buyers

By Mike Winters
NBC Los Angeles
March 5, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s administration imposed new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico while increasing existing tariffs on goods from China, a move expected to raise prices for new homes, according to a recent CoreLogic report. That’s largely because tariffs affect essential home construction materials, including wood products, cement, steel, aluminum and appliances, so homebuilding costs are projected to rise. As a result, construction costs could increase by 4% to 6% over the next 12 months, adding roughly $17,000 to $22,000 to the sticker prices for new homes, according to CoreLogic. With the cost of a newly constructed home averaging around $422,000, these added expenses may further strain affordability for first-time homebuyers, the study says.

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US New Home Sales Slow in January 2025

By Jing Fu
NAHB – Eye on Housing
February 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

New home sales decreased in January to a three-month low, as housing affordability continues to sideline potential home buyers. Mortgage rates are expected to remain above 6% throughout 2025, coupled with elevated home prices, creating a significant affordability challenge for both first-time buyers and those looking to upgrade. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in January decreased 10.5% to a 657,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from an upwardly revised December number, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The pace of new home sales in January is down 1.1% compared to a year earlier. …New single-family home inventory in January continued to rise to a level of 495,000, up 7.4% compared to a year earlier. This represents a 9 months’ supply at the current building pace.

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Home Depot exec says Americans may soon embrace sky-high mortgage rates as ‘the new normal’ and invest in housing

By Sydney Lake
Fortune Magazine
February 25, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Home Depot’s CFO said people are “moving on” from today’s high mortgage rates and have started investing more in their homes. The home improvement company reported strong fourth-quarter results, although CEO Ted Decker said consumers are still reluctant to make larger investments like a kitchen remodel. Experts say people may start to view today’s mortgage rates as normal, especially when compared to historic rates. …“Housing is still frozen by mortgage rates,” Richard McPhail, said. Yet McPhail said Home Depot, which reported strong Q4 results Tuesday, has seen sales growth in nearly 80% of its U.S. geographic regions. …For Q4, 2024, Home Depot saw a 14.1% year-over-year increase in sales, which “exceeded our expectations,” Ted Decker CEO, said. …“We saw greater engagement in home improvement spend, despite ongoing pressure on large remodeling projects,” Decker said

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Los Angelos Has Big Plans to Rebuild After the Fires. Good Luck Getting Insurance.

By Kevin T. Dugan
The Wall Street Journal
March 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

In her pop-art decorated office in the heart of Beverly Hills, real-estate broker Rochelle Maize got an early look at who would control the future of Pacific Palisades. It was eight days after the wildfires broke out— even then, the power of California’s insurance companies was becoming evident. Her clients buy and sell mansions in crown-jewel neighborhoods where listings bottom out around the single-digit millions. One client wanted to go ahead with a seven-figure purchase, risk be damned, even if he had to be self-insured—meaning he would proceed without a policy… The question for Los Angeles isn’t so much how to rebuild the Palisades, but who pays if it burns again. “Writing new policies doesn’t make any sense at this time,” State Farm General, California’s largest property insurer, wrote Tuesday to the state insurance commissioner. To shore up its finances, the company is seeking permission for a 22% rate increase for 1.2 million homeowners. [A paid subscription is required to read this article]

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Rebuilding after LA fires to cost more as new tariffs drive up prices on key materials

By Vania Patino
Spectum News
March 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

CHINO, Calif. — Where some just see lumber, Marc Saracco, a sales manager at wholesale distributor Capital Lumber Company, sees the building blocks of new communities. Although with the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump is placing on imports from Mexico and Canada, Saracco said those building blocks are expected to get more expensive. “I estimate that the tariffs from appliances to lumber would cost a homeowner between $30,000 and $40,000 per house,” Saracco said. He said it could exacerbate the current housing shortage. “We as an industry rely heavily on what they produce. About 30% of the lumber that we consume in the United States comes from Canada,” Saracco said. …”You’re talking about $600 million just in the scale of the rebuild in additional tariffs to meet those 15,000 homes that absolutely need to be rebuilt,” Saracco said. …With domestic sawmills closing, Saracco said it would take 10 to 20 years before the U.S. can internally meet lumber demand. 

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Made-in-U.S.A. Lumber Futures Are Coming to Wall Street

By Ryan Dezember
The Wall Street Journal in Yahoo!Finance
March 10, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

Lumber producers have migrated from Canada to the US South. Now lumber-futures trading is heading to the Southern pineries as well. The exchange operator CME Group said it would launch trading in Southern yellow pine futures on March 31, a response to rising export taxes on Canadian lumber. The futures contracts—ticker: SYP—will give the South’s loblolly planters, loggers, sawmills, pressure treaters and builders a mechanism to manage their exposure to price swings that is more in line with the local market than existing futures. …Traders and the exchange have for years discussed Southern yellow pine futures as the region’s production grew. Now that Northern lumber is a lot more expensive, they are saying the time is right. …Southern yellow pine doesn’t always work as a substitute for the Northern species favored by home builders. But executives said the growing price difference is prompting pockets of buyers to swap.

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Increase of domestic timber to boost UK economy and housebuilding

Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
GOV.UK
February 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

A new roadmap to get Britain building with the use of sustainable and low carbon building materials, will help solve the housing crisis and achieve 2050 net zero targets. New, ambitious plans to increase the use of timber in construction to boost the domestic timber industry, economic growth, rural jobs and housebuilding targets, have been announced today at the Timber in Construction Summit in London. The government has outlined new methods to deliver on its Plan for Change that will help to build 1.5million sustainable and affordable homes, create a low-waste circular construction sector and drive further investment into domestic timber and wood-processing supply chains. Speaking at the Summit, Minister Creagh confirmed the government will recommit to the Timber in Construction Roadmap, which outlines measures to increase the use of timber in the construction sector.

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