MOBILE, Alabama, Jan. 14, 2022 — Experts forecast lumber prices to continue rising well into 2022, following supply shortages resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lumber prices have nearly tripled in the last four months, causing the average price of a single-family home to increase by more than $18,600, according to the National Association of Homebuilders.
The price of framing lumber topped $1,000 per thousand board feet on Dec. 29. That’s a 167-percent increase since late August, according to Random Lengths, an organization that provides price assessments for the wood products industry.
Why Lumber Prices Have Surged
Prices began to rise in April 2020, when production at sawmills declined in anticipation of reduced demands.
Experts who forecast lower demand for new homes and residential remodeling projects missed the mark, but that was just one problem.
After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, quarantine life changed everything. While more people than ever tackled home improvement projects, lumber mills failed to ramp up production in time to meet the demand of do-it-yourselfers.
Lumber prices peaked at a record-breaking $1,500 per thousand board feet in May 2021, before beginning a gradual decline through late August.
What to Expect in 2022
Three factors are contributing to the increase in U.S. lumber prices:
• Supply chain disruptions
• Doubling of tariffs on Canadian lumber
• An unusually strong summer wildfire season
But there is hope.
The National Association of Home Builders is working with the White House, Congress and lumber producers to resolve lumber supply chain disruptions, increase production and drive down prices.
Click here to read more about their efforts to lower lumber prices.
Further Reading
• Using Composite Building Materials to Save Trees
• Selecting the Right Lumber
• Wall Construction Tips for a Home Renovation
Around my neighbourhood, Ontario, Canada, lumber has in some aspects leapt to 5 or 6 times the price already. A 2×4, for example, that two years ago cost $2.5, now go for $9 to $10, you can find some for about $6, but they are more suited for the fire pit. Plywood is $135, for a 4×4 sheet, they used to be $30 to $40, depending on quality.
I watch videos made in the last 6 months where folks are completed woodworking projects with what they refer to $40 to $50 worth of wood. I am seeing, in one case, close to $750 value in lumber.
And we are told there is a lumber shortage.
When I am at the local lumber yards, I am seeing piles of wood greater in size than I have seen in decades, so clearly there is NO shortage. If anything, there is a gross surplus of lumber, but also a blatant greed driving the prices higher and higher.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the TodaysHomeowner.com community!
Nov 23 2021 7/16 osb $17
Feb 23 2022 $39
The yards here are stacked to the ceilings, literally. There is no shortage at all. Yet the price fluctuates like a bad stock market. Also it’s winter and nearly no one is buying loads of lumber compared to warm season. Seems odd.