Eye On Housing
Framing lumber prices garnered more attention than any other building material over the past year as prices quadrupled between April 2020 and May 2021. But even as lumber prices decline, the spotlight on lumber continues to crowd out the story of meteoric price increases of another wood product integral to the integrity of a building’s structure—oriented strand board (OSB). The… Read More ›
Lumber futures prices have decreased by 52 percent (on a front-month basis) over the past seven weeks as mill prices have fallen 48 percent over the same period.[1] In contrast, prices paid by builders since late May have declined by a fraction of that impact. The disconnect—which has always existed—is inherent to the lumber supply chain and choices that must… Read More ›
Recent posts have discussed how builders are facing widespread shortages of many building materials, and how materials prices for the same house have increased by 26 percent over the past year. Results from a follow-on NAHB survey show that builders have reacted to the shortages in a variety of ways, most commonly by raising the prices of their homes and… Read More ›
A post published last week discussed how record numbers of builders were reporting on broad-based shortages of building materials and products. The source of the information was the May survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The same survey asked the HMI panel of single-family builders how total material costs for the same house have changed over the… Read More ›
The historic climb for lumber prices, combined with delays and higher costs for other building materials, is a significant limiting factor for home building in 2021. Despite a historically low level of overall housing inventory and solid demand due to low mortgage interest rates and demographics, new construction has been unable to add additional needed supply to the market, resulting… Read More ›
According to NAHB’s latest estimates, rising softwood lumber prices over the last 12 months have added $35,872 to the price of an average new single-family home, and $12,966 to the market value of an average new multifamily home. That increase in multifamily value translates to households paying $119 a month more to rent a new apartment. These estimates are based on the softwood lumber used… Read More ›
The United States consumed roughly 47 billion board feet of softwood lumber in 2019, 30.8% of which came from 48 foreign countries. All softwood lumber imports are not created equally, however. The lumber used to frame a home in the United States must meet stringent standards set by the American Lumber Standard Committee and only 16 foreign countries produce lumber… Read More ›
Building materials prices topped the list of problems builders faced in 2020 and is expected to return to the number one spot in 2021, according to special questions on the December 2020 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The survey results showed that building materials was a significant issue for 96% of builders last year. In 2021, however,… Read More ›
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction ex-energy rose 0.7% in December (not seasonally adjusted) and ended the year 5.4% higher than they stood in December 2019, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building materials (i.e., inputs to residential construction less food and energy) prices declined just twice over the… Read More ›
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction ex-energy decreased 0.6% in November (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for inputs to residential construction, including food and energy also decreased over the month, albeit by slightly less (-0.5%). Neither measure had fallen since pandemic-driven price… Read More ›