Eye On Housing
In May of last year, Eye on Housing reported on historically widespread shortages of building materials. Since then, most of the shortages have eased; the major exceptions being shortages of HVAC equipment and certain categories of ceramic materials (ceramic tiles, clay bricks and cement-based building materials), which have gotten slightly worse. NAHB has been tracking shortages of building materials and… Read More ›
Although lumber prices have declined somewhat recently, this follows a period of record increases that started in mid-2020 and have left prices at historic highs. In a recent NAHB survey, 94 percent of builders reported a shortage of framing lumber. Despite this, as Tuesday’s post showed, wood framing remains the dominant construction method for single-family homes in the U.S., accounting… Read More ›
Shortages of materials are now more widespread than at any at any time since NAHB began tracking the issue on a regular basis in the 1990s in is survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). In response to special questions on the May 2021 HMI survey, over 90 percent of builders who buy the product in question reported… Read More ›
Shortages of framing lumber are now more widespread than at any time since NAHB began tracking the issue in a consistent way in 1994, according to results from the May 2018 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Over 30 percent of single-family builders responding to the survey’s special questions in May reported a shortage of framing lumber, outdistancing the other 22… Read More ›
For several years now, the recovery in single-family home building has been hampered by shortages of labor and lots. Availability of building materials, meanwhile, has not been much of an issue. But that may be starting to change. In answer to questions on the May 2017 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, 21% of single-family builders reported a shortage… Read More ›
According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), vinyl (including vinyl-covered aluminum) was the most common exterior wall material used in homes started in 2013 (31 percent), followed by brick or brick veneer (24 percent), stucco (22 percent), and fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard) (17 percent). Far smaller shares of single-family homes started last… Read More ›
The home building industry is facing emerging shortages of key building materials like lumber and wall board, according to surveys conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) in May. Among builders, the highest incidence of shortages was for oriented strand board (OSB), with 22 percent of builders reporting shortages,… Read More ›