2 x 4 Lumber down by 33% since last summer

[Snagglefoot]

I checked my local Home Depot and a 2 x 4 SPF 8 ft long is the equivalent of $2.80 US. That’s down from $4.20 last summer. Are these the type of prices you see?

If so, now would be a good time to get that project done.

 

[skyactiv]

I had a new home built in the summer of 2022 and it cost much more to build compared to the previous home I had built in 2017. But the prior home increased in value $410K because it sits on 5 acres and Intel is building a semicouctor factory which made homes and land go up like crazy in the area.

 

[demarpaint]

I had a new home built in the summer of 2022 and it cost much more to build compared to the previous home I had built in 2017. But the prior home increased in value $410K because it sits on 5 acres and Intel is building a semicouctor factory which made homes and land go up like crazy in the area.

Lets see if builders elsewhere lower prices since the price of lumber went down, probably not. If not sitting a little while longer will drive them down because of the higher for longer interest rates. Most people are sitting tight now.

 

[skyactiv]

Lets see if builders elsewhere lower prices since the price of lumber went down, probably not. If not sitting a little while longer will drive them down because of the higher for longer interest rates. Most people are sitting tight now.

No one wants to trade a 3% mortgage for a 7% one for sure. That has made the housing market even tighter. Unfortunately where I live, the older, smaller homes are even more expensive with todays higher mortgage rates than they were with 3% money.

And to keep up with the growing population where I live, fewer houses are being built. There is a transformation to push more and more people to rent an apartment.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Let’s see if builders elsewhere lower prices since the price of lumber went down, probably not. If not sitting a little while longer will drive them down because of the higher for longer interest rates. Most people are sitting tight now.

Lumber will likely go back up here as AFFH is rolled out in force, overriding local zoning and building subsidized housing in all kinds of places.

 

[demarpaint]

Lumber will likely go back up here as AFFH is rolled out in force, overriding local zoning and building subsidized housing in all kinds of places.

Add to it the jump in fuel prices over the past month or so. I'd jump on that lumber if I had a project for it.

 

[demarpaint]

No one wants to trade a 3% mortgage for a 7% one for sure. That has made the housing market even tighter. Unfortunately where I live, the older, smaller homes are even more expensive with todays higher mortgage rates than they were with 3% money.

And to keep up with the growing population where I live, fewer houses are being built. There is a transformation to push more and more people to rent an apartment.

I see that changing soon, especially with another rate hike most likely. The goal is to lower inflation, so sooner or later something is going to give.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I see that changing soon, especially with another rate hike most likely. The goal is to lower inflation, so sooner or later something is going to give.

I think that’s also part of the plan. If rates stay “higher, for longer than in the past” as we’re hearing from the Fed, this is also going to discourage even more single family home building and give AFFH even more “necessity”.

 

[thastinger]

I see that changing soon, especially with another rate hike most likely. The goal is to lower inflation, so sooner or later something is going to give.

The only way to lower inflation is to have interest rates that are higher than inflation, but we can afford to pay the interest on the debt if we did that and states/cities don't want the flow of money to slow down because it gets taxes less times.

 

[demarpaint]

The only way to lower inflation is to have interest rates that are higher than inflation, but we can afford to pay the interest on the debt if we did that and states/cities don't want the flow of money to slow down because it gets taxes less times.

Yes that's one way. The other is to get the cost of fuel down, which unfortunately no matter how high they raise interest rates that won't impact the cost of fuel. If fuel comes down prices food, and goods and services will come down too, along with inflation.

 

[GON]

Last night at Home Depot I bought two pieces of four foot long 1" angle iron. Each angle iron cost a little over $40. Yes, Home Depot charges a pretty penny for that type of item, but not long ago an item like that was much cheaper. I take it as a high commodity/ high profile item like a 2x4 has come down. But many of the items used around a 2x4 have not seen reductions in price.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Lumber is a traded commodity - so here is a wholesale lumber price chart. What you pay in the store may or may not match depending on how much the retailer has decided you would be willing to pay.

New home starts are trending down, but there still higher than pre pandemic.

New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units

View data of the total number of new privately owned homes that began construction in a given month, used as an indicator of economic strength.

fred.stlouisfed.org

Lumber - 2023 Data - 1978-2022 Historical - 2024 Forecast - Price - Quote - Chart

Lumber prices dropped below $500 per thousand feet benchmark, hovering around the lowest level since May, due to indications of subdued demand. The latest data revealed a decrease in US softwood lumber imports from Europe, which amounted to 428 million board feet (mmbf) during the second...

tradingeconomics.com

 

[Lubener]

It's about half of what the price was 2-3 years ago.

 

[atikovi]

I checked my local Home Depot and a 2 x 4 SPF 8 ft long is the equivalent of $2.80 US. That’s down from $4.20 last summer. Are these the type of prices you see?

If so, now would be a good time to get that project done.

So your $100,000 addition that uses 100 2x4s is now $140 cheaper? That's not much of an incentive to get it done now for most people.

 

[BigCahuna]

I just got a price to build a 10 x 12 ft deck on the back of my house in New Jersey. The price quoted for removal and disposal of the old porch, a set of stairs and a cement pad, permits, and installation of the new deck with new footings was about $10,000. It seems like alot of money for some wood and hardware. Being the deck is relativity small, I decided were don't need one that bad.,,,

 

[Snagglefoot]

So your $100,000 addition that uses 100 2x4s is now $140 cheaper? That's not much of an incentive to get it done now for most people.

Haha, I was thinking more about a chicken coop addition.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I just got a price to build a 10 x 12 ft deck on the back of my house in New Jersey. The price quoted for removal and disposal of the old porch, a set of stairs and a cement pad, permits, and installation of the new deck with new footings was about $10,000. It seems like alot of money for some wood and hardware. Being the deck is relativity small, I decided were don't need one that bad.,,,

I’d say that’s the going rate here for a basic deck without any fancy wood or composite, and wouldn’t include removal and disposal of the old one.

 

[MSCH]

I just got a price to build a 10 x 12 ft deck on the back of my house in New Jersey. The price quoted for removal and disposal of the old porch, a set of stairs and a cement pad, permits, and installation of the new deck with new footings was about $10,000. It seems like alot of money for some wood and hardware. Being the deck is relativity small, I decided were don't need one that bad.,,,

with the added benefit of not having any additional taxation based on the increased value of a home improvement.

 

[eljefino]

Builders aren't dumb, they have to look two years in the future for a proposed spec house to see if the buyer will qualify at the then-current interest rate. They paid astronomical fees for basic necessities during ongoing projects because they knew they'd still sell at the then-bargain rates, since people only care about monthly payments. Lumber is, in short, returning to "normal." My state is claiming a "housing crisis" but people are still sitting on their thumbs hoping "someone else" will build them a house. Ten years ago you could get a house for less than the sum of its parts, and folks still expect that.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I checked my local Home Depot and a 2 x 4 SPF 8 ft long is the equivalent of $2.80 US. That’s down from $4.20 last summer. Are these the type of prices you see?

If so, now would be a good time to get that project done.

I am in southern New Hampshire in the East coast U.S.
I just checked $3.68 USD ea homeowner cost for kiln dried spruce. I would guess a contrator bundle pricing would be closer to the 2.80 per stick - but I am not privy.