Let's talk about the price of lumber

Lumber Prices Have Skyrocketed Due to an (Im)Perfect StormWhen my mom used to say that money doesn't grow on trees, she definitely wasn't referring to the lumber shortage of 2021.The far-reaching hand and impact of the pandemic is everywhere, and probably none more evident than the skyrocketing costs of lumber over the past half-year.In March and April of 2020, as businesses were forced to shut down, this included sawmills across the country, thereby decreasing available supplies of lumber for home-building and home improvement. And it wasn't just the shuttering of mills causing the price shift. The perfect storm of closures, plus wildfires in some forest regions, an increase in do-it-yourself projects, and the very attractive mortgage rates enticing first-time and repeat home buyers, created a shortage of lumber available for new housing starts unlike any in history.According to the National Association of Realtors, in February of 2021, the increased cost of lumber added $24,000 to construction of a new home. And that number shot up to $36,000 in April.On May 28th of this year, the cash price per thousand board feet reached an all-time high of $1,515. A 288% increase since April 2020. And, though wood production is at a 13-year high, there is still a large backlog of need. A bit of light at the end of the tunnel though, as prices have dropped to less than $1,000 per thousand board feet having posted their biggest weekly drop in history.Despite these drops, it’s still easy to say, ahem, we’re not yet out of the woods.