Timber growers are pitching mass timber to data-center developers as a housing slump forces sawmill closures.
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Pending sales fell 3.6% from September to the lowest since 2013 apart from April 2020, with mortgage rates at a three-year high.
The elevated 18,640-square-foot center is the first mass timber project for its contractor, Bancroft Construction.
New listings dropped to the lowest level since January, while pending sales set another record low.
Wood product makers cut 400 jobs in October to 393,900, while construction payrolls were little changed at 8.367 million.
The 15-year fixed mortgage rate declined, reaching 6.57% from 6.60% a week earlier.
The Vienna-based company says a contractually agreed investor payment failed to arrive, while its parent Gropyus AG stays out of the proceedings and construction continues.
The Australian Forest Products Association estimates that up to 100,000 cubic meters of imported timber products a year may contain Russian fiber, enough for 15,000 homes, and wants testing and country-of-origin labeling.
Developers launched 61,106 apartments.
The door and window maker expects 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $120 million to $150 million as cost cuts offset weaker volumes, and will keep its European business after a strategic review.
Net orders dropped in the first nine months, and the company now expects 4,600 to 4,800 home closings in 2026.
Siding sales grew 7% to $473 million as volumes returned to growth, while the OSB segment posted another loss.
Construction openings were up 44.7% from a year earlier, against a 4.9% rise for all nonfarm industries.
The ISM Manufacturing PMI rose to 55.5% from 54.5% in September.
Single-family construction was 2.4% below a year earlier.
The maker of connectors for wood construction raised the low end of its 2026 margin forecast and approved a $1 billion share buyback.
The mass timber group will move production to three other Austrian sites by year-end, and most of the plant's 40 workers will stay with the company.
Minnesota-based Andersen, which bought the window and door maker in 2017, did not disclose terms; the deal is expected to close in December.
Goldman Sachs forecasts single-family starts of 870,000 and existing-home sales of 3.9 million next year, before lower mortgage rates revive activity in the second half.
Wooden starts rose 2.3%; January–September starts were up 1.6% from a year earlier.