(NEXSTAR) — A lumber shortage amid a red-hot housing market has caused the price of single-family homes to jump approximately $36,000 since last April, a new study finds.
The analysis, from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), emerges as lumber prices in April skyrocketed 250% year over year.
The lumber price hike has also added $13,000 to the market value of an average new multifamily home, translating to households paying an additional $119 a month in rent on a new apartment.
It’s not just lumber prices on the rise. Per NAHB, other building materials have been “steadily rising since 2020” and are “in short supply.”
“This unprecedented price surge is hurting American home buyers and home builders and impeding housing and economic growth,” said NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke, a custom home builder from Tampa, Fla., in a statement.
Part of the reason lumber prices are so high is due to a shortage of workers at lumber mills, according to Steven Hatton, a distributor with 84 lumber.
“We’re not getting lumber in a timely manner because of COVID, and the mills can’t keep up with the orders coming in,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything like this.”
NAHB said the higher prices are a result of increased demand and restrictions in supply because of a lack of domestic production and lumber mill cutbacks.
Hatton said 84 Lumber usually honors a quote for 30 days, but because of the volatile prices, they can’t honor a quote for that amount of time right now.
“We’ll have people call in Monday and ask for a quote on a list and we’ll tell them, ‘Hey, you’ve got seven days, and it’s going to go up,’” he said.
