Steel Markets

Climbing Home Prices Ease Slightly in April
Written by Sandy Williams
June 26, 2018
The climb in home prices eased somewhat in April, according to the latest data from the S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller National Home Price Index. The national index showed a 6.4 percent annual gain in April, down from 6.5 percent in March.
The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 6.2 percent, down from 6.4 percent in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 6.6 percent year-over-year gain, down from 6.7 percent in the previous month.
Cities in the western U.S. led price increases in April with Seattle showing an annual gain of 13.1 percent, Las Vegas 12.7 percent and San Francisco 10.9 percent.
“The favorable economy and moderate mortgage rates both support recent gains in housing,” said David M. Blitzer Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “One factor pushing prices up is the continued low supply of homes for sale. The months-supply is currently 4.3 months, up from levels below 4 months earlier in the year, but still low.”
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, published monthly, accurately track the price path of typical single-family homes located in each metropolitan area. Each index combines matched price pairs for thousands of individual houses from the available arms-length sales data. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index tracks the value of single-family housing within the United States. The index is a composite of single-family home price indices for the nine U.S. Census divisions and is calculated quarterly. The 10 and 20-city indices are value-weighted averages of the metro area indices.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets

USW cheers Evraz NA agreement with Atlas Holdings
The United Steelworkers (USW) labor union celebrated recent news of the signed agreement between Atlas Holdings and Evraz NA in which the Connecticut-based private equity company said it plans to acquire North America’s Evraz facilities.

Steel buyer spirits tempered by soft spot market conditions
Steel sheet buyers report feeling bogged down by the ongoing stresses of stagnant demand, news fatigue, tariff negotiations or implementation timelines, and persistent macroeconomic uncertainty.

Hot-rolled coil buyers continue seeking certainty
Steel market participants contend that buyers will remain in “wait-and-see" mode until some market stability is restored.

Latin American steel advocates warn on cheap import flood
Subsidized Chinese steel imports and cheap steel products from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) entering Latin American (LATAM) are threatening the region's steel market.

CRU: Steel prices fall amid global demand weakness
The forceful headwinds bearing down on steel markets across the globe have created demand challenges and sent prices southward. The US, however, challenged the global trend.