The US has been skating on thin ice for a number of years and it's finally catching up to them. From what little I know, the Americans are allowed to deduct their mortgages from their income taxes. This is good, but how it comes out is the larger your mortgage, the bigger tax deduction you can claim. This also makes it unprofitable to pay off your mortgage so all these lenders are refinancing houses as the owners get more equity. The upshot is that lots of homeowners are overextended and can't pay, leading to banks and other lenders losing their loans and a glut of homes hit the open market, causing home prices to fall. There is going to be a correction, how far it goes, I haven't a clue but local lumber prices will probably take a hit.
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