US Housing Starts
US housing starts rose to a four-year high in October, increasing 3.6 per cent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 894,000. Building permit data, a proxy for future housing starts, declined slightly but was still strong at 866,000 (SAAR), suggesting that the recovery in the US homebuilding sector will be sustained.
A pick-up in US new home construction seems to already be stimulating increased shipments of BC wood products. The uptick in housing starts this year, and especially the acceleration of construction activity in the third quarter, has coincided with a 25 cent year-over-year increase in BC softwood lumber exports and a 27 per cent increase in all housing related wood product exports to the United States through the end of the third quarter.
Source: British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA)