Always a little suspect, China’s economic growth was reported at 6.4%, year-on-year in the March quarter of 2019. Growth was above expectations and was driven by a solid increase in industri…

Modest though it may be, the 0.8% rise in Retail Sales recorded in February 2019 is very welcome news for a sector that has been under serious pressure for much of the last few years. Whether the r…

Australia’s core inflation was an annualized 1.4% over the year-ended March 2019, but headline inflation was a disastrous 0% in the March quarter. The result was all the more challenging bec…

Small it may be, but February’s rise in the value of housing finance is very welcome news. It may be too soon, but with the total value of loans up 2.7% on January’s low, it is conceivable that hous…

It is just possible that your attitude and perception to the state of the housing market depends a great deal on the state in which you reside. But in general, the further South you go in Australi…

Listen to some pundits and housing cycles are impacted dramatically by events like elections. Others are less certain, preferring to stick to the known annual cycles. Most of us resist the te…

Australia’s sawn softwood import volumes dipped in February 2019, sliding to 50,821 m3, almost 28% lower than in January and a solid 18.7% lower than in February 2018. After more than a year of…

Sales of locally produced sawn softwood products totalled 231,886 m3 in February 2019, a lift of 21.2% on the prior month. Although January is always a quiet month and thus is relatively easil…