Most Builders Locking in Lumber Prices or Passing Increases to Buyers; Rates Drop Again

Most Builders Locking in Lumber Prices or Passing Increases to Buyers; Rates Drop Again

For months, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has been citing lumber prices as one of the headwinds faced by new home builders as they try to pick up the pace of construction. Those prices nearly doubled over a four-month period in 2020, reaching an all-time high in September. Since then, they have continued their volatility and are now considerably higher than that September peak. Builders say the price and availability of building materials is the top challenge they currently face. In their most recent NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey, NAHB asked their builder members how they are handling the increasing prices. The most common response, given by 47 percent of those responding was by "including price escalation clauses in their sales contracts." Paul Emrath, writing