Homebuilders

An ex-Biden administration official suggested potential challenges in identifying lands that have access to both employment opportunities and infrastructure.

Measures of current sales of single-family homes and prospective-buyer traffic, dropped to their lowest levels since the end of 2023.

Issuances fell in January for residential and multifamily segments, as concerns over available workers and future tariffs came to the fore.

The average size of purchase applications fell below the $400,000 mark, reflecting first-time home buyer interest, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

With focus turning to increased domestic production, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange plans to launch a new lumber futures trading exchange in late March.

The builder's lending unit bought servicing and secondary market approvals that weren't part of Guild's previous acquisition of CCM's production and branding.

The postponement would pertain to Federal Housing Administration-insured single- and multifamily loans and other final determination dates that have not passed.

American lumber producers have alleged that the Canadian lumber system amounts to a subsidy — a charge Canadians deny — and the countries have fought over tariffs on those products for decades.

President Donald Trump is set to announce changes to the tariffs on Canada and Mexico he slapped on earlier this week, with potential relief for automobiles and other sectors, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The Trump administration could announce a pathway for tariff relief on Mexican and Canadian goods covered by North America's free trade agreement as soon as tomorrow, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday.

Tariffs, the employment pool and requirements to tap financing are potential roadblocks that need to be addressed in order to increase new builds.

President Donald Trump said he would plow ahead with new tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday, a broadside against the two biggest US trading partners that underscores his push to remake global trade.

A Commerce Department investigation will examine whether exporters like Canada, Germany, and Brazil are dumping lumber into US markets at the expense of American economic prosperity and national security, officials said.

Implemented in January, the Biden administration rule addressed flood risk in designated zones, setting building levels that were higher than FEMA standards.

Howard Lutnick's influence in housing today is primarily tied to tariffs but his firm also had a storied past in mortgages and was hit hard by the 9/11 attacks.

Shares of all 18 members in the S&P Composite 1500 Homebuilding Index fell, sending the gauge to the lowest intraday level since December 2023, after results from luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. and key construction data Wednesday indicated the residential real estate market may be in store for more turbulence. 

New residential construction decreased 9.8% to an annualized pace of 1.37 million last month, slipping after a nearly 16% surge in December, according to government data released Wednesday.

Builder confidence had surged following Trump's election win but home financing costs stuck around 7% in recent months have sapped demand and sent builder stocks tumbling.

At the same time builders and lenders report contracting credit on offer, sentiment in the residential construction industry improved in the latter half of 2024.

Similar import taxes on steel and aluminum were imposed by President Trump during his first term, albeit at a lower rate for the latter material.