Boston e-commerce software firm lands big VC round

CONSTRUCTION

Homebuilder sentiment at two-year low as inflation, higher rates dampen demand

US homebuilder sentiment slid to a two-year low in June as rising inflation and higher mortgage rates weighed on housing demand. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo gauge decreased two points in June to 67, the lowest level since June 2020, figures showed Wednesday. That marked the index’s sixth straight decline. Homebuilders are facing a widespread slowdown in the housing market. A rapid rise in mortgage rates has crimped affordability and driven a slowdown in home sales in recent months. Meantime, lead times for materials remain long, costs are high and labor is still hard to find. “The housing market faces both demand-side and supply-side challenges,” Robert Dietz, chief economist at the NAHB, said in a statement. “Residential construction material costs are up 19 percent year-over-year with cost increases for a variety of building inputs.” The group’s gauge of prospective buyer traffic fell five points to 48, the lowest since June 2020. The measure of present sales also declined to a two-year low, and sales expectations for the next six months dropped to the lowest since May 2020. ― BLOOMBERG NEWS

REAL ESTATE

Home prices, sales fall again in Canada as mortgage pain intensifies

Canadian home prices declined for the second straight month as surging borrowing costs spur a reversal in what had been one of the world’s hottest housing markets. Canada’s benchmark home price fell 0.8 percent to about $635,000 in May from the month before, according to data released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association. Cities in Ontario showed the biggest declines. Sales also dropped sharply, falling 8.6 percent from the previous month, the association said. The drop comes after Canadian home prices shot up more than 50 percent over a two-year period as ultra-low interest rates and demand for larger living spaces led to bidding wars for properties. Now, as the Bank of Canada tries to rein in inflation that’s running at nearly 7 percent, mortgage rates are rising quickly and policy makers have identified high house prices and heavily-indebted homeowners as major vulnerabilities in the economy. The central bank has raised its key policy rate from 0.25 percent to 1.5 percent since the beginning of March, while signaling even more aggressive increases could be coming next month. ― BLOOMBERG NEWS

SHIPPING

Massive cargo ship freed after grounding near Georgia port

Authorities are investigating what caused a cargo ship to become grounded along the shipping channel to Georgia’s busiest seaport. The Danish-flagged container ship Maersk Surabaya ran aground Tuesday evening while navigating the Savannah River on its way to the Port of Savannah, the US Coast Guard said. Seven tugboats nudged the 1,000 foot ship back to the center of the shipping channel and no injuries or pollution were reported, the Coast Guard said in a news release Wednesday. The vessel was moored at the port’s docks Wednesday morning. The Port of Savannah is the fourth-busiest US port for handling containers, giant metal boxes used to ship goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens. ― ASSOCIATED PRESS

MANUFACTURING

Lego to build $1 billion factory in Virginia (but not out of Legos)

Hoping to shorten the supply chain for its popular building sets, the toymaker Lego said Wednesday that it was planning to invest $1 billion in a new factory in Chesterfield County, Va. The 1.7 million-square-foot plant, scheduled to start producing plastic bricks by the second half of 2025, is expected to create more than 1,760 jobs over 10 years, Lego said in a statement. The site was chosen in part for its access to the country’s transportation networks, Niels B. Christiansen, the Lego Group chief executive, said in the statement. The Virginia factory will be Lego’s seventh in the world, and its second in the Americas. Lego also said that it planned to expand its site in Monterrey, in northeastern Mexico, which makes products primarily for the US market. In December, the company announced plans to build a factory in Vietnam. Lego, which is based in Billund, Denmark, reported big gains during the pandemic as consumers turned to its building sets for entertainment during and after lockdowns. ― NEW YORK TIMES

HEALTH CARE

US elderly skimp on food, clothes to pay for health care

Older Americans are sacrificing basic necessities to afford costly health services, according to a survey that shows how many elderly people cut personal expenses to take care of medical needs. Out-of-pocket health costs for elders in the United States rose 41 percent from 2009 to 2019, according to findings from analytics firm Gallup Inc. and West Health, a nonprofit that focuses on senior care. About 9 percent of Americans 65 and older spent less on food, 6 percent cut spending on utilities, and 19 percent trimmed clothing expenditures to help cover health costs, according to the survey. The US population of people ages 65 and older will reach 77 million people by 2034, rising from about 52 million today according to the US Census. The ongoing surge threatens to exacerbate hardships for the elderly, who are already struggling to afford services. Elders are also forgoing vital medical needs: 12 percent of those surveyed said they or a family member refrained from seeking treatment for a health issue because of cost. About 11 percent of the skipped picking up prescribed medicines to save cash. More than a third of elders said they were worried about their ability to pay for care in the coming year. Nearly half of Americans ages 50 through 64, who aren’t eligible for the US Medicare health program for the elderly, shared the same concerns. The data come from a survey of 6,663 adults 18 and older in all 50 states and Washington. It was conducted by Web Sept. 27-30 and Oct. 18-21, 2021. ― BLOOMBERG NEWS

ENERGY

Russia’s oil output rose last month, despite sanctions

Russia continues to find buyers for its oil despite Western sanctions. Although production fell immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it bottomed out and even rose slightly recently. In May, Russian output of crude oil and related liquids rose marginally, by about 130,000 barrels per day from April to 10.55 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. The agency’s monthly oil market report, published on Wednesday, depicts a world of oil-consuming countries in a difficult predicament. The United States, the European Union, and other nations want to squeeze Russia, denying it oil and gas revenue to fuel its war in Ukraine. So far, this effort seems to be falling short. The agency estimates that Russia earned $20 billion in May from oil sales, a $1.7 billion increase from April, partly driven by high prices. Global oil prices are already high — with Brent crude futures at about $120 a barrel, almost double the price a year ago — and diesel and other refined product prices are even higher, and matters could worsen. If sanctions on Russia tighten, “global oil supply may struggle to keep pace with demand” in 2023, the agency warned. Overall, Russian output is down 850,000 barrels a day — about 7.5 percent — since before the invasion of Ukraine, but the country’s industry has managed to pump faster than many analysts expected. India is doing the most to bail out Russia. Moscow exported 1 million barrels of oil a day to India in April and 900,000 a day in May, a huge increase over the 100,000-barrel-a-day average for 2021. China, traditionally a large buyer of Russian crude, has also purchased more Russian oil, as has Turkey, the agency said. ― NEW YORK TIMES