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Report from
North America
US enacts comprehensive housing package
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a landmark
bipartisan housing package including more than 45
provisions, became law on 10 July.
The ROAD to Housing Act is intended to improve the US
housing market by increasing housing supply, reducing
regulatory barriers, modernising federal housing
programnes and giving state and local governments
additional tools to support residential construction.
An overview of the Act is available at :
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/whats-in-the-21st-
century-road-to-housing-act/.
The legislation became law automatically under the US
Constitution after President Trump neither signed nor
vetoed the bill within the 10 days provided for presidential
consideration while Congress remained in session.
See:https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/whats-in-the-21st-
century-road-to-housing-act/
Surge in apartment construction fueled June rebound
of housing starts
The US housing market bounced back in June after one of
its quieter months in recent memory. Housing starts
climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.427
million units, a 19% increase from May’s revised figures
according to data from the US Census Bureau.
That recovery matters because May was rough. Starts fell
15% that month dragged down by a collapse in apartment
construction that saw multi-family starts drop roughly
40%.
The June recovery was almost entirely a multi-family
story. Apartment and condo construction soared 76% to a
rate of 513,000 in June, up 19% from last June’s rate.
Single-family starts, meanwhile, fell to a rate of 895,000
units. Total starts were down 0.5% compared to June of
last year.
The rate on the popular 30-year fixed-mortgages has
increased by nearly 60 basis points since the US and Israel
attacked Iran at the end of February, hitting an 11-month
high of 6.55% in mid-July, data from mortgage finance
agency Freddie Mac showed.
A National Association of Home Builders survey released
in July showed sentiment among single-family
homebuilders remains depressed, with economic
uncertainty amid the Middle East conflict, rising material
prices, high land costs and elevated mortgage rates
blamed.
Housing starts across Canada fell 6% in June to a
seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 238,971 units, the
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) reported.
CMHC also reported that actual housing starts in centres
with at least 10,000 residents fell 13% in June 2026 from a
year earlier, warning that uncertainty, elevated
development costs, weaker buyer demand and a growing
stock of unsold homes will restrain new projects.
See: https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/index.html
and
https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-
data-and-research/housing-data/data-tables/housing-market-
data/monthly-housing-starts-construction-data-tables
June home sales dropped but remained stronger than
last year
Existing-home sales decreased in June by 2.4% month on
month and increased 3% year-over-year according to the
National Association of Realtors Existing-Home Sales
report.
“The back-and-forth in monthly home sales activity,
driven by mild fluctuations in mortgage rates, shows how
sensitive home buyers are to affordability conditions”, said
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “However, job
gains, more than half a million since the beginning of the
year, will continue to provide support for the housing
market.”
“The median home price has reached an all-time high.
Even so, affordability is better than a year ago because
wage growth is outpacing home price growth”, Yun
continued. “However, progress on long-term housing
affordability could be hampered if inventory growth
continues to stall.
Without consistent gains in inventory, home prices can
accelerate. It is critical to introduce more supply to the
market to widen the opportunity for homeownership.”
Regionally, there was a 2% increase in sales month qn
month in the Northeast, to an annual rate of 480,000,
which was unchanged from June 2025. In the Midwest,
there was a 3% decrease in sales month on month to an
annual rate of 980,000, which was up 2% year-over-year.
Sales also fell in the South, down 4% month on month to
an annual rate of 1.89 million but up 4% year on year. The
West saw 1% decrease in sales month on month to an
annual rate of 740,000, which was up 3% year on year.
See: https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-
statistics/existing-home-sales
US hiring was below expectations in June
Job growth in the US slowed sharply in June, with
employers adding around half the number of jobs that
economists had forecast.
According to the figures from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), US employers added 57,000 jobs in June,
less than half the number added in May. Non-farm jobs
were expected to rise by 115,000 in June, according to
Dow Jones forecasts.
The unemployment rate edged down to 4.2% from 4.3% in
May, though economists noted that the decline was driven
largely by fewer people participating in the labour force
rather than a surge in hiring.
The latest report adds to signs that the labour market is
losing momentum after several years of resilience, with
revisions also showing that job creation in April and May
was weaker than previously estimated.
Both the construction and manufacturing sectors remained
stagnant in June with each showing little or no change
over the month. The health care and social assistance
sectors remained reliable engines of job growth and the
professional and business services industry also
experienced gains.
Daniel Zhao, Chief Economist at Glassdoor, said the
revisions suggest that recent labour market strength may
have been overstated. “Payroll growth slowed sharply to
57,000 and downward revisions to April and May, a
combined 74,000 fewer jobs than previously reported,
suggest the hiring slowdown runs deeper than the headline
numbers first reported”, Zhao said.
See: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
and
https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-report-june-data-live-
updates-2026-7#junes-report-showed-some-weak-spots-in-the-
labor-market
Consumers’ mood improved in July on lower
consumer prices
Americans’ economic mood improved in July as gasoline
prices eased according to the preliminary results of the
University of Michigan’s monthly survey.
The survey’s sentiment index rose to 54.4 in its initial July
reading, from 49.5 in June. Analysts polled by The Wall
Street Journal were anticipating the index would reach
50.5.
The initial result is based on responses that came in
between 23June 13 and July. During that period the
average US gasoline price was US$3.86, down from an
average price of US$4.49 during May. “Sentiment’s
upward momentum may prove difficult to sustain if recent
declines in gas prices continue to reverse course,” Hsu
said.
See: https://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/
Wood products not matching growth enjoyed by other
US manufacturing sectors
While the US manufacturing sector has shown consistent
growth in 2026 furniture manufacturing and the
manufacturing of wood products have lagged.
The recently released ISM Manufacturing PMI Report
showed economic activity in manufacturing expanded in
June for the sixth consecutive month. Yet, while 14 of the
18 sectors tracked by ISM reported growth, the Furniture
& Related Products, the Wood Products and the Paper
Products sectors all reported contraction in June. In May,
Wood Products was the only sector that reported
contraction.
See:
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-
industry-news/manufacturing-activity-expands-wood-and-
furniture-fall-behind-latest
US cabinet sales rose slightly in May
May cabinet sales were up slightly compared to the month
prior but were down compared to last May according to
the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association's Trend of
Business report.
In a month on month comparison, survey respondents
reported a 1.2% increase in overall sales over April sales
figures. Semi-custom sales were up 5%, while custom
sales dropped 3% and stock cabinets while semi-custom
dropped 2%. Cabinet quantity also fell, down 6%
compared to the month prior.
Responding companies reported overall sales of US$183.6
million for May 2026, a decrease of 8% from the year
prior. Custom sales were down 1.1%, at US$52.157
million, while semi-custom dropped 10.8% to US$102.076
million and stock sales fell 12%, to US$29.398 million.
Respondents reported a cabinet quantity for the month of
440,333, down 160% compared to May 2025 figures.
For the year to May estimated sales by responding
companies were $869.062 million and cabinet quantity
was 2.243 million.
See: https://kcma.org/insights/april-2026-trend-business-report
USTR urged to include hardwoods in US-China trade
framework
A letter from a bipartisan group of US lawmakers has
urged the United States Trade Representative to include
American hardwood lumber in the US-China Board of
Trade framework.
The US-China Board of Trade is a government-to-
government framework established during the May 2026
Beijing summit between President Donald Trump and
President Xi Jinping that is designed to manage and
optimise bilateral trade in non-sensitive goods by adjusting
tariffs on a reciprocal basis.
According to Congressman Chris Pappas , the US
hardwood industry has lost nearly US$10 billion in
foregone sales and experienced a 48% drop in domestic
hardwood lumber production since the retaliatory tariffs
on China began in 2018.
US hardwood exporters historically sold about half of their
international lumber to China but the 25% retaliatory
tariffs caused the US to lose major market share to
competitors in Russia, Malaysia and Thailand.
This week Pappas joined US Senator Jeanne Shaheen,
Senator Shelley Moore Capito and Representatives GT
Thompson and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, along with a
group of US Senators and Representatives in a new letter
urging United States Trade Representative (USTR)
Jamieson Greer to explicitly include American hardwood
lumber within the recently established US-China Board of
Trade.
The aim was to eEnsure hardwood lumber is included in
China’s procurement commitments under the new Board
of Trade would protect this key industry and boost
American manufacturing.
In the letter the lawmakers request that USTR explicitly
include American hardwood lumber in the Board of Trade
framework; include American hardwood lumber, not logs,
in China’s US$17 billion procurement commitment and
include enforceable compliance mechanisms with
measurable targets specific to hardwood lumber and
regularly review hardwood lumber purchases at the Board
of Trade to ensure actual purchases are made.
See:
https://www.shaheen.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ustr_hardwood_l
etter.pdf
and
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-
industry-news/lawmakers-urge-ustr-include-hardwoods-us-china-
trade-framework
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