Are mortgage rates impacting construction? A couple of signals from the markets

Here are three charts to consider:

1. Mortgage rates this month –

Source: MND

2. Lumber futures prices this month –

September lumber futures (source: Barchart)

Is this telling us something about expectations for housing starts this month?

3. For those who think the above two charts are a coincidence, here is a signal from the equity markets comparing homebuilder shares with the S&P500 over the past 3 months.

Homebuilders index vs. the S&P500 total return (Source: Ycharts)

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