In January, the pace of US housing starts has increased by 9.7% from the previous month to 1.33 million units. On top of this, an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million housing units were completed in the same month – a 7.7% increase from a year ago. "This is a modest step toward producing enough housing to meet market demand", says FirstAm chief economist Mark Fleming, dampening too much enthusiasm about the upward trend.
At the same time, US lumber prices are on a hike. They have reached "an all-time high – more than doubling in the past two years", analyses Charlie Bilello, Director of Research at Pension Partners. And he adds, "Thank goodness there is no inflation now."
