In the most recent survey of manufacturers by the Institute for Supply Management, 59.6 percent of firms said business was improving, up from 56.5 percent in February.

The ISM's report on industry performance in March indicates that overall activity for wood and paper products improved. For the wood products industry, increased production led the charge. New orders and a backlog of orders accounted for improvement in the paper products industry. Production in the paper industry retreated, however.

Shipments in the industry also increased. According to the Association of American Railroads' (AAR) Rail Time Indicators report, the volume of U.S. rail traffic rose from January to February, and is approaching 2009 levels. Year over year, both primary wood products and lumber showed an increase in shipped volumes in February.

 

As the Weekly Application Surveys conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) predicted last month, sales of both existing and new homes rebounded in March. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sales were 6.8 percent higher on a month-over-month basis and 16.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported new home sales were 26.9 percent higher on a month-over-month basis and 23.8 percent stronger on a year-over-year basis (Table 1). The NAR's pending home sales index climbed in March as well, up 8.2 percent versus last month and 17.3 percent over last year.

Martin Yun, chief economist with the NAR, had this to say about the state of the market: " The rise in buyer contact activity may signal the early stages of a second surge of home sales this spring. The healthy gain hints home prices are continuing to flatten. We need a second surge to meaningfully draw down inventory and definitively stabilize home values."