Eye On Housing
Since the relatively low point at the onset of the pandemic on April 17, 2020, lumber prices have been volatile, with record setting spikes interspersed with periods of substantial declines. On balance over the entire period, however, softwood lumber prices have increased enough to add $14,345 to the price of an average new single-family home, and $5,511 to the market… Read More ›
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction ex-energy decreased 0.7% in August (not seasonally adjusted), according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The decrease was largely driven by a decline in lumber and wood products prices and was the first monthly decline since the start of the last recession. The price… Read More ›
According to NAHB’s latest estimates, changes in prices for softwood lumber products that occurred between April 17, 2020 and July 08, 2021 are enough to add $29,833 to the price of an average new single-family home, and $9,990 to the market value of an average new multifamily home. The increase in multifamily value, in turn, translates to households paying $92… Read More ›
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 ›
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction increased 0.6% in May (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. May marks only the fourth monthly increase in the past 12 months in the price index for residential construction inputs. The index has declined 4.8% year-to-date (YTD), nearly four times the… Read More ›
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction decreased 0.5% in February (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building materials prices are just 0.6% higher than they were 12 months ago and have been remarkably stable since then, with an average monthly increase of 0.05%. In fact, the… Read More ›
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction increased by 0.7% in July (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building materials prices have declined an average of 0.1% per month over the last 12 months, compared to an average monthly increase of 0.8% during the same period 2017-2018…. Read More ›