Wholesale prices of goods used in residential construction rose in May as energy prices continued to climb. In May, residential building material prices, excluding energy, rose at their highest yearly rate since January 2023, as prices were up 4.4% from a year ago and up 0.7% over the month. Meanwhile, prices for services rose 4.7% over the year, but were unchanged from the previous month.
The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.1% in May, after rising 1.1% in April. Compared to a year ago, final demand prices were up 6.5%. The index for final demand services rose 0.3% in May, while the index for final demand goods rose 2.8% over the month.
The price index for inputs to new residential construction rose 1.3% in May and was up 6.9% from last year. The price of goods used in new residential construction (including energy) was up 2.1% over the month and up 8.3% from last year, while the price of services was unchanged over the month and up 4.7% from last year.
Input Goods
The goods component has a larger importance to the inputs to residential construction price index, representing around 60% of the total. On a monthly basis, the price of input goods to new residential construction was up 2.1% in May. This monthly increase was the largest since it rose 3.3% back in March of 2022.
The input goods to residential construction index can be further broken down into two separate components, one measuring energy inputs with the other measuring remaining goods. The latter of these two components simply represents building materials used in residential construction, which makes up around 93% of the goods index.
Energy input prices rose 17.2% in May and were 62.8% higher than a year ago. Building material prices were up 0.7% in May and up 4.4% compared to one year ago.
Among input goods, the largest year-over-year increase was for No. 2 diesel fuel as prices were 105.9% higher than a year ago. Metal molding and trim prices remained higher, with prices up 42.9% from a year ago. Softwood lumber prices were up 5.6% from a year ago in May while ready-mix concrete prices were up 1.7% from a year ago. Gypsum building materials prices were down 1.1% from a year ago.
Input Services
Prices for service inputs to residential construction reported no price change in May. On a year-over-year basis, service input prices were up 4.7%. The price index for service inputs to residential construction can be broken out into three separate components: a trade services component, a transportation and warehousing services component, and a services excluding trade, transportation, and warehousing component (other services).
The most significant component is trade services (around 60%), followed by other services (around 29%), and finally transportation and warehousing services (around 11%). The largest component, trade services, was up 3.8% from a year ago. The price of transportation and warehousing services rose 17.3%, while prices for other services were up 1.7% over the year.
