In May, lumber prices reached all all time high, at $1,670.50, more than six times their pandemic low in April of 2020, but as of July prices have tumbled by nearly 60% since hitting peak in May!
Senior economist at Fastmarketsr RISI, Dustin Jalbert states it could take weeks before retail centers begin to see the effects of the rate cuts. He adds, “Prices are probably not going to fall to the levels that they were before the pandemic.”
Dale Oxley, director of NAHB West Virginia agrees, “That decline was really at the mills. The consumer really hasn’t seen that 30% to 40% because a lot of the… local suppliers haven’t burned off that high-price product.”
Will we see a direct correlation from the price of lumber and the price or property?
Not likely – yet.
Alex Barron, president of the Housing Research Center told Bankrate, “Lumber is not the main reason why homes are unaffordable. It is the lack of resale supply.”