Latest News on the Housing & Construction Markets
Thursday, December 07, 2006
From USA Today:"Dozens of sawmills around the country are laying off workers, shutting down temporarily or trimming hours, as a steep drop in home building hits demand and prices. 'In lumber, basic economic rules apply: supply and demand. The demand dropped off quickly, and so did the price,' says Joe Kusar, VP of Tolleson Lumber, the largest lumber maker in Georgia." "In Northern California, Pacific Lumber said Dec. 1 that it was laying off 90 people, or 19% of workers. 'A (price) decline of this magnitude is virtually unprecedented in the last 20 years,' says Pacific Lumber spokeswoman Andrea Arnot."
"Tim Cochran of an independent newsletter specializing in softwood lumber, calls the current downturn the longest bear market since 1990. '(Prices) went up so high with the housing boom … and so when they go up hard they just go down that much harder,' Cochran says."
The Chicago Sun Times: "Executives of several of the largest home builders predicted that inventories would decline, and prices and home starts would rise, in the latter half of 2007, as they spoke at the 10th annual Homebuilding Conference."
"Toll Brothers Inc. CFO Joel Rassman declined to predict when the market would hit bottom. 'Nobody can know when the bottom is,' Rassman said. 'I think there's a reason to believe that when the big builders control 50 percent to 60 percent of a market, they'll probably have to eat each other,' he said."
The Pasadena Star: "A housing slowdown affects construction, loan agents, landscapers and many other related businesses, said Michael Carney, executive director of the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California. 'Concern for the housing market as a whole may spill over into consumer spending,' Carney said."
"Builders are reacting to sales declines by not getting permits to build new homes. California's total units in permits is expected to decline 16 percent in 2006, and that number could be closer to 26 percent, Carney said. 'Developers are clearly adjusting as fast as they can,' Carney said."
Labels: Construction Hiring, construction jobs
Bloomberg: Fewer Construction Jobs
Sunday, December 03, 2006
From Bloomberg: "The housing slump is also resulting in job cuts at construction companies and related industries. Builders shed 26,000 jobs in October, the most since February 2003, the Labor Department said. 'The weakness in orders and obvious further declines in housing-related activity suggests more weakness in coming months,' said Steven Wieting, managing director at Citigroup Global Markets."
"'Construction and manufacturing are certainly the anchors weighing down growth at the moment,' said economist Joshua Shapiro. 'Consumer spending is hanging in there, but there are certainly a lot of crosscurrents that will lead to pretty anemic growth in the fourth quarter and probably the first quarter as well.'"
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Labels: construction jobs
