The Download: Thanks to a sky-high rise in prices, lumber yards, and home builders have held off on buying timber from sawmills in hopes that prices may come down. Those prices haven’t budged, however, and now the aforementioned parties are in a buying frenzy just ahead of spring. This influx in buyers is causing prices to skyrocket this past Friday, the price of lumber per thousand board feet rose to $1,048, an all-time high, up 193 percent from last year.
What’s Happening: This lofty hike in prices is unlikely to last. As of Monday, the May futures contract price per thousand board feet of two-by-fours leaped from $32 to $1,158. That sizable uptick may have climbed even higher had it not been stopped 20 minutes into trading a practice that occurs when the commodity price rises more than $32 in a single trading day. Blame the pandemic for creating the perfect set of conditions for surging lumber prices.
Lumber prices triple, causing thorn in side of builders and home renovators
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Lumber prices skyrocket amid pandemic due to demand
The National Association of Home Builders said the lumber price surge is adding $24,000 to the average price of a newly built home. Author: Jack Norcross, Associated Press Published: 6:39 PM EDT April 4, 2021 Updated: 6:39 PM EDT April 4, 2021
Lumber prices are on the rise, making new homes and home improvement projects more expensive this year.
Oxford Economics reports that random length lumber prices have more than tripled since last April. The National Association of Home Builders said the lumber price surge is adding $24,000 to the average price of a newly built home.
Even with sky high lumber prices, it s highly likely that housing construction will remain one of the stand-out performers for the economy again this year.