Eye On Housing
The prices of softwood lumber and OSB increased by 2.2% and 3.3%, respectively, in May according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increases were a return to the 2017 norm, as softwood lumber and OSB have led building materials price gains in every month except April, when gypsum prices rose 5.1%. In contrast,… Read More ›
For the third straight month, prices of softwood lumber, gypsum, ready-mix concrete, and OSB all increased, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unlike March, when softwood lumber and OSB led price increases, gypsum topped the list in April with prices increasing 5.1%. As expected, the price of softwood lumber increased again in April. … Read More ›
The prices of softwood lumber, gypsum, ready-mix concrete, and OSB all increased in February, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increases were led by gypsum products, with softwood lumber a close second. After decreasing in four of five months, the price of softwood lumber rose in February. The 4.8% increase was the… Read More ›
The price of lumber, from framing to structural panels, has increased in recent weeks with some prices rising more than 30%. Softwood lumber prices have been relatively steady since 2014. During this period, the largest one-week price increase of framing lumber (+6.8%), as measured by the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Index, occurred in the middle of the recent price… Read More ›
Prices received for four key building materials (prior to sales to consumers)—softwood lumber, OSB, gypsum products, and ready-mix concrete—all fell in October according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSB prices declined 0.5% in October, ending a 7-month trend that had made the commodity the most expensive it had been in over… Read More ›
Recent NAHB estimates show that a 25 percent volume cap on softwood lumber imported from Canada, had it been in place in 2014, would have resulted in a loss of A previous post showed the impact that a 15 percent tariff on Canadian lumber, the maximum allowed under the expired Softwood Lumber Agreement, would have on U.S. markets. This post takes… Read More ›
Recent NAHB estimates show that a 15% tariff on softwood lumber imported from Canada would have resulted in a loss of had it been applied to all Canadian producers in 2014. NAHB analyzed 15%, because that was the maximum tariff in the Softwood Lumber Agreement that expired last year. NAHB analyzed 2014, because that was a recent year with complete data, seemed representative… Read More ›