Lumber Prices Continue to Price Home Owners - and Builders - Out of the Market

Many of the local builders have raised their home prices by $8,000-$15,000 to cover the lumber price increases. “Framing lumber makes up roughly a fifth of the materials cost of building a home,” said David Logan, director of tax and trade analysis at the National Association of Home Builders. “When we see a price increase this large over such a short period, it’s going to have negative effects on affordability for prospective home buyers.”

Builders will pass on the higher cost of lumber to buyers in the form of higher prices for newly-built homes. But it isn’t just new buyers that could see higher costs as a result of the current situation. Americans already under contract for a new home could feel some of the pain as well.

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