Lumber Inflation Driving Construction Costs

Across the U.S. there has been significant lumber inflation in the last year, some areas are seeing more than a 180% increase in price.

It is already adding significant costs to building projects, tens of thousands of dollars to the price of your average home.

Some homeowners might be holding off on projects now because of the rise in price and a number of factors have been blamed for the decrease in supply.

From factories shutting down for a period last year, to the increase in DIY builders who were stuck at home and looking to do their own rennovations etc, there isn't enough supply right now. It is expected that this problem will level out though and that this inflation on lumber won't last forever.

When is the lumber price going to go back to normal? Or is it? It depends on who you ask. Some say if you are waiting for COVID-19 prices that you may never see them again.

For many in cities around the U.S. that were already facing high housing costs, this is only adding more to the problem.

And small businesses are going to feel it as well, when the cost of goods that they need in this market increases 180% or more in a year. Some are already scrambling to find new lumber supplies for certain items.

Some types of lumber right now are selling for all time high prices and there isn't any clear sign of when it might come down to normal levels, if that will even happen as many fear inflation is only going to get worse after all of the stimulus spending we have seen lately.

However, right now these sky high prices are being blamed on a drastically short supply that cannot keep up with the demand. That shouldn't last forever and eventually the market will catch up like we saw with toilet paper and other goods last year. Or maybe, as some have suspected, this might only be the beginning of more inflation to come.