Despite the sharp downward revision to January’s total, new home sales continued to show growth in February. February new home sales came in at a 640,000 unit rate, up 1.1% from January but still down 19.0% from the 790,000 unit rate in February 2022. This is the third consecutive month and the fourth time in the last five months in which sales have increased on a month-over-month basis. The current sales rate is at its highest level since August.
Order activity at domestic suppliers continued to increase, helping to push lead times further out. The average domestic coated lead time increased to 8.8 weeks, up from 8.1 weeks previously. Extending domestic lead times continue to pressure production and provide strength to recent upward pricing movement.
After a sharp drop in January, the Dodge Momentum Index rebounded slightly in February. The Dodge Momentum Index came in at 203.0 in February, up 1.9% from 199.3 in January and up over 26% from last February. Both the commercial and institutional components increased in February, climbing 1.4% and 2.9%, respectively. The continued growth in the index gives hope of continued construction activity growth moving into 2024.
Cleveland-Cliffs kicked off a seventh round of price increases, announcing a $100/ton ($5.00/cwt) price increase on all carbon hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated products, effectively immediately. Later in the week, NLMK USA, Nucor, and other domestic mills pushed prices up as well.
