After a cooling period over the spring and summer, prices for lumber have once again surged, nearly tripling over the past four months and adding more than $18.6K to the cost of a new home, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The increase has also added almost $7,300 to the average cost of a multifamily home.
Random Lengths reports prices have increased 167% since August, rising to more than $1K/thousand board feet.
Prices originally began increasing rapidly in the early days of the pandemic. Sawmills reduced production after incorrected predicting a reduction in demand. They were then slow to bring production levels back up.
The current increases are being blamed on a number of factors, including ongoing global supply chain problems, the doubling of tariffs on Canadian lumber imports into the United States and a major wildfire season this summer in British Columbia and the western U.S. (Source)