Lumber is on a tear again, bringing back the specter of increasing construction costs.
“Prices are well above trend pricing, as well as our own price forecasts,” Mark Wilde, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets in New York, said Wednesday in an email. “We are also just heading toward spring construction season and housing market activity, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see prices rally further.”
Wood prices
The increasing frequency and severity of droughts was top of mind for panelists at AmeriCatalyst's "Going to Extremes" conference Thursday.
In a Senate hearing, Director Sandra Thompson said a raise to the required income threshold provided to affordable housing was on the table, while housing regulators also faced questions related to property insurance hikes and title insurance waivers.
The nonpayment rate for non-qualified mortgages is up 21 basis points from February and 134 basis points from March 2023, Morningstar DBRS said.
The government mortgage-bond guarantor will require additional information on foreclosure prevention actions, and retire some forbearance reporting.
But views are split, at least in the near-term on whether rising mortgage rates are holding back the Spring home purchase season.
The top five producers had an average dollar volume of FHA loans of more than $50 million in 2023.
