Sales of new single-family houses is once again on the rise for August 2015. With a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000, according to the U.S Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is a 21.6% increase from August 2014 and a 5.7% increase from the revised July rate of 522,000.
Canadian Lumber produced 2.2 billion board feet in July 2015, bringing up the year-to-date total to 15.4 billion board feet. This is a 6% increase from the previous year. The provinces that saw the most gain were Alberta, up 8% to 2.3 billion board feet, and Quebec, up 5% to 3.2 billion board feet.
The USDA is once again seeking public comments on amendments made for the Hardwood Checkoff Program. The program was initially proposed in November, 2013 as a collective research and marketing effort funded by lumber producers with financial oversight, implementation, and enforcement conducted by a 28 member board run by industry owners and employees. The proposed program would highlight a single commodity, hardwood, and create a promotional campaign to increase the sales of US produced hardwood. Similar programs started by the USDA include the campaigns such as “Got Milk”, “Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner” and “Pork, the Other White Meat”.
With the newest revisions to the program that clarify export and domestic sales would be included for eligible products and changing the voting procedures for the programs participants the USDA has started to move forward following the public comments period.
Under the Hardwood Checkoff Program the funding would be from sawmill operators and kiln drying yards with annual sales greater than $2 million will be assessed $1 for every $1,000 in sales. Plywood mills with more than $10 million in annual production will pay $3 per $1,000 of production.
For more information on the Hardwood Checkoff Program please visit: Harwood Checkoff Program and No Hardwood Checkoff Program
Sales of new single-family houses were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000 and compared to June 2014 this was an increase of 18.1 percent. However June 2015 sales were 6.8% below the revised May 2015 rate of 517,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 215,000, representing a supply of 5.4 months at the current sales rate. For more information please visit US Census Bureau.
With a recent increase in US residential home sales, there is an expected 4% increase in US residential remodeling spending for the first quarter in 2016 according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The second quarter of 2015 experienced a 4.3% increase to $144.7 billion compared to the $138.7 billion spent during the same time period of 2014.
“Other signals of strengthening remodeling activity include sustained growth in retail sales of home improvement products and ongoing gains in house prices across much of the country,” says Abbe Will, a research analyst in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center. “Rising home prices means rising home equity, which should encourage improvement spending by a growing number of owners.” (http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/)
The LIRA is published quarterly and is designed to estimate national homeowner spending on improvements for the current quarter and subsequent three quarters.
References:
“Pick-Up Projected in Home Improvement Activity Moving into 2016.” (Press Release from the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University). Web. 30 July 2015.
The Lacey Act of 1990 was the first US conservation law
which prohibits trade wildlife, plants and plant products that have been obtained illegally or traded in violation of the laws of a foreign nation. The Lacey Act has come under scrutiny again with the reintroduction of the Freedom from Over- Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2015 (FOCUS Act) by U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They aim to remove any reference to foreign laws in the Lacey Act and substitute the criminal penalties with civil penalties. For more information on the Lacey Act visit: US Fish and Wildlife Services For more information on the FOCUS Act
visit: https://www.congress.gov/
New data released by the U.S Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that the sale of new single-family houses in July 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000. This is a 25.8% increase from July 2014 and a 5.4% increase from the revised June 2015 sales.