LINDON – Demand is not the only thing that increases the cost of a new home. Out-of-control prices for sawn timber added tens of thousands of dollars to the price of construction, according to a national analysis.
“It’s a unique and unprecedented moment,” said Caleb Williams, manager of Burton Lumber’s location in Lindon. “It is a volatile market that changes almost daily.”
Williams said he is as surprised as his customers to see the rising cost of lumber.
“We have never seen anything like this and we never expected it,” he said.
Since April 2020, the increase in the price of wood has increased the price of a new home for a single family by $ 24,386, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
VIDEO: “That’s three times the price of a 2×4”
Builders and buyers are at odds with the price of wood
“They don’t believe me”
NEXT on @ KSL5TV at an inaccessible price #Utah report see how the price jump is adding thousands to the cost of a new home @kslnewsradio@KSLcompic.twitter.com/Hrc66v2uEG
– Ladd Egan (@laddegan) March 18, 2021
“I have been in the industry for 25 years and there has never been a big leap like this,” said Daniel McArthur of Pine Canyon Homes.
McArthur said he is finishing up several cellars in Utah County and that customers don’t believe him when he tells them about the current price of frame materials.
“Forever, it cost two to three dollars for a 2 × 4 stallion,” he said. “Now it’s reaching seven dollars – that’s three times the price of a 2 × 4.”
McArthur said families save money to finish basements and, when they are ready to start construction, the price has changed. He often ends up sharing the price increase with his customers.
“It is a great success for both of us,” he said.
“These more than doubled in the past year”
Wood prices are rising and changing daily.
“We have never seen anything like this and we never expected it”
WATCH NOW on @ KSL5TV at 6 pm pic.twitter.com/EkOcFg2BEY
– Ladd Egan (@laddegan) March 18, 2021
The association, along with other housing groups, sent a letter last week to the United States Department of Commerce requesting an examination of the lumber supply chain.
“It is easy to see that current prices represent an intolerable and often insurmountable financial burden for builders and contractors,” said the letter.
The letter also asked the Department of Commerce to find ways to increase sawn timber production.
“Builders and builders that have signed fixed price contracts are forced to absorb these paralyzing increases in material prices and costly delivery delays; there is a significant risk that many of these companies will be forced to close,” the letter says. dated March 12, went on to say.
Construction groups attributed the price increase to “better-than-expected housing demand” during the pandemic and “unprecedented do-it-yourself activity.”
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Ladd Egan