LINDON: Demand isn’t the only thing driving up the cost of a new home. According to a national analysis, out-of-control timber prices have added tens of thousands of dollars to the price of construction.
“It’s a unique and unprecedented moment,” said Caleb Williams, manager of Burton Lumber’s location in Lindon. “It’s a volatile market that changes almost daily.”
Williams said he is as surprised as his customers at seeing the high cost of the wood.
“We’ve never seen anything like it and we never expected it,” he said.
Since April 2020, the rise in timber prices has raised the price of a new single-family home by $ 24,386, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
VIDEO: “This is three times the price of a 2×4”
Builders and home buyers are shocked by the price of wood
“They don’t believe me”
NEXT activated @ KSL5TV in an unapproachable way #Utah report see how the jump in prices is adding thousands to the cost of a new home @kslnewsradio@KSLcompic.twitter.com/Hrc66v2uEG
– Ladd Egan (@laddegan) March 18, 2021
“I’ve been in (industry) 25 years and there’s never been a big leap like this,” Daniel McArthur told Pine Canyon Homes.
McArthur said he has finished many basements in Utah County and that customers don’t believe him when he tells them the current price of framing supplies.
“It was forever like two or three dollars for a 2 × 4 pile,” he said. “Now it’s seven dollars; that’s three times the price of a 2 × 4.”
McArthur said families save money to finish the basements and that when they are ready to start construction, the price has changed. He often ends up sharing the price increase with his customers.
“It’s a big hit for both of us,” he said.
“These have more than doubled in the last year”
Wood prices are rising and changing daily.
“We’ve never seen anything like it and we never expected it”
Look now @ KSL5TV at 6 p.m. pic.twitter.com/EkOcFg2BEY
– Ladd Egan (@laddegan) March 18, 2021
The association, along with other housing groups, last week sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce requesting an examination of the timber supply chain.
“It is easy to see that current prices represent an intolerable and often insurmountable financial burden for home builders and contractors,” the letter said.
The letter also called on the Commerce Department to find ways to increase timber production.
“Home builders and construction companies that have signed fixed-price contracts are forced to absorb these paralyzing increases in material prices and costly delays in deliveries; there is a significant risk that many of these companies will be seen forced to leave the business, “the letter explains. dated March 12, he went on to say.
Housing building groups blamed rising prices on “better-than-expected housing demand” during the pandemic and “unprecedented DIY segment activity”.
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Ladd Egan