The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition lumber prices are down about 20 per cent since late last year amid a slump in North American housing starts and weaker exports to China. The Globe's Brenda Bouw writes that Canadian lumber stocks have also fallen by an average of about 20 per cent so far this year. Shares in Canfor have slipped 15 per cent, while West Fraser Timber stock is down 9 per cent. "This is a good level right now, from an investor point of view, to look at some of these names again," said CIBC World Markets analyst Mark Kennedy. He said Canadian lumber producers are also benefiting from the lower Canadian dollar. "We are very bullish on the sector. Stocks are off a lot from their peaks and we think the back half of 2015 will be very good," said Raymond James analyst Daryl Swetlishoff, who has an "outperform" on six of the eight forestry companies he covers. "If you're betting on a lumber stock, what you are betting on is a gradual improvement in the U.S. housing market," he says. "That's what it comes down to. It's not an egregious bet to make." U.S. housing starts plunged 17 per cent in February to 897,000 annualized units, down from about 1.08 million in January.