Sky-High Lumber Prices Endanger Economic Recovery, Says NAHB

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) noted that soaring lumber prices have elevated the cost of new homes. This in turn has led to many potential home buyers postponing or aborting their decision. Consequently, this has prevented the residential construction sector from providing much-needed boost to the economy.

Incidentally, the lumber prices had hit new record during the previous week. Over the past ten months, the prices of lumber have surged higher by almost 170%.

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Chuck Fowke, Chairman, NAHB attributed the crisis situation to acute shortage in domestic lumber and the tariffs imposed on Canadian lumber shipments to the U.S. It urged producers to ramp up production. Also, it called upon the Biden administration to end the tariffs. These measures, could possibly put an end to extreme price volatility in the lumber market and mitigate the threat to lumber market as well as economy, he said.

According to home builders, the average price for lumber framing package on an identically-sized home has nearly doubled over the past one year from $35,000 to approximately $71,000.

The limited supply and rising prices of lumber tends to limit the industry’s potential to lead economic growth, NAHB said.