NAHB CEO Jerry Howard | Photo: c. Herman Farrer " are grossly underestimating housing demand for this year and next year." Single-family building permits rose 11% in 2020 and are forecast to increase another 5% in 2021 and 3% in 2022 to reach 1.068 million units a year, the most since 2007. "The message we've been sending them through the media and third parties is that they are grossly underestimating housing demand for this year and next year," said Howard. In fact, despite overtures by NAHB and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, lumber producers have to date refused to meet with housing industry officials about the ongoing lumber price escalation. "I don't know what they (lumber producers) are thinking, but it is a very dangerous path they're going down."
Simply, says Howard, builders can't afford the lumber to build houses, threatening what he called "the buoy for the whole American economy" that the residential construction sector provides as the nation slowly emerges from a global health crisis. "We've been talking to our friends in the timber industry for months about how increasing (lumber) prices is putting the nation's economy into grave jeopardy."
Composite product builder price doubling pro#
"We are shocked and very disappointed to see the prices had gotten to that level," said Jerry Howard, CEO of The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in an exclusive interview with Pro Builder earlier today.
Prices for softwood lumber have risen more than 170% over the past 10 months, according to Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Effects of Rising Lumber Pricesįor home builders, framers, and remodeling contractors, the impact has eroded profitability, stalled production, and led to cancelled sales contracts and all-out shut-downs of projects-all of which works against housing affordability. The price tops the most recent peak of $955 set in September 2020 and continues a general pattern of escalation since initial COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions were put into effect nearly a year ago. The price of softwood lumber reached a record high today of $966 per thousand board feet, according to the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite reflecting the highest volume-producing regions of the U.S.
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