LINDON – The question is not the only one that increases the cost of a new home. According to the national analysis, out-of-control timber prices added tens of thousands of dollars to the construction price.
“This is a unique and unprecedented time,” said Burton Lumber manager Caleb Williams in Lindon. “It’s a volatile market that changes almost daily.”
Williams said he was just as surprised as his customers to see the rising cost of the wood.
“We’ve never seen anything like it and never expected it,” he said.
According to the National Association of Home Builders, the rise in wood prices since April 2020 has increased the price of a new, single-family home by $ 24,386.
VIDEO: “It’s a Triple Price for a 2×4”
Homebuilders and buyers are shocked by the price of wood
“They do not believe me”
NEXT to @ KSL5TV in an unaffordable #Utah report sees how the rise in prices adds thousands to the cost of a new home @kslnewsradio@KSLcompic.twitter.com/Hrc66v2uEG
– Ladd Egan (@laddegan) 18 March 2021
“I was in the industry for 25 years and there has never been a big leap like this,” Daniel McArthur told Pine Canyon Homes.
McArthur said he has finished many cellars in Utah County and that customers do not believe him when he tells them about the current price of inventory supplies.
“Forever it was like two to three dollars for a 2 × 4 stud,” he said. “Now it beats seven dollars – it’s a triple price for a 2 × 4.”
McArthur said families are saving money to finish basements, and by the time they are ready to start building, the price has changed. Many times he shares the price increase with his customers.
“It’s a big hit for both of us,” he said.
“It has more than doubled in the last year”
Wood prices rise daily.
“We’ve never seen anything like it and never expected it”
LOOK NOW @ KSL5TV at 18:00 pic.twitter.com/EkOcFg2BEY
– Ladd Egan (@laddegan) 18 March 2021
The association, along with other housing groups, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce last week requesting an investigation into the timber supply chain.
“It is easy to see that current prices represent an unbearable and often insurmountable financial burden for home builders and contractors,” the letter reads.
The letter also asked the Department of Commerce to find ways to increase timber production.
“Homebuilders and construction companies that have signed fixed-price contracts are being forced to incorporate these crippling increases in material prices and costly delays in deliveries; there is a significant risk that many of these businesses will be forced out of pocket,” the letter reads. dated March 12, further said.
The house building groups blamed the price increase for the ‘better-than-expected demand for housing’ during the pandemic and ‘unprecedented activity by the do-it-yourself segment’.
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Ladd Egan