Lumber prices nearly four times higher than last year, hurting home builders & buyers
The real estate market is red hot, but record-high lumber prices are driving up costs for home builders and home buyers.
and last updated 2021-05-12 18:35:00-04
(WXYZ) â The real estate market is red hot, but record-high lumber prices are driving up costs for home builders and home buyers.
Michael Stoskopf, the CEO of the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan, said the cost of lumber, which was 35 cents-a-foot for per thousand board feet at the start of the pandemic, has skyrocketed since. On the exchanges right now, itâs closing upwards of $1,400 per thousand board feet, thatâs a factor of four, he said. So, if a house had $10,000 worth of just a framing lumber package in it, that same lumber package now would cost $40,000.