DJ CME Lumber Review: Short Covering Takes Prices Limit Up

The March contract ended up $10.00, or 7.24%, at $148.10, while May closed $10.00, or 6.42%, higher at $165.70. The July contract was $10.00, or 5.89%, higher at $179.80.

Lumber Price May Exit the Woodshed on Output Drop: Chart of Day

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- A collapse in U.S. wood-product output is setting the stage for a rebound in lumber prices that are the lowest in at least 22 years on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Lumber Price May Exit the Woodshed on Output Drop: Chart of Day

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- A collapse in U.S. wood-product output is setting the stage for a rebound in lumber prices that are the lowest in at least 22 years on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Home sales show surprising strength in Dec.

WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase last month, as sales of bargain-basement foreclosures in California and Florida boomed, closing out the worst year for the U.S. real estate market in more than a decade.

And now for some good news: The mother of all housing corrections appears to be nearing an end.

Nationwide, prices of new and existing homes are now only about 7% away from being as affordable as they were during the 1980s -- when the housing market was booming. At that time, median home prices equaled 2.9 times median household incomes.

DJ CME Lumber Review: Most Modestly Higher On Short Covering

Chicago Mercantile Exchange lumber futures Thursday shook off a bearishly-construed housing starts report released before the session began, and most contracts closed slightly higher on short covering.

New home construction falls to a record low

New-home construction plunged to an all-time low in December, capping the worst year for builders on records dating back to 1959.