NAHB Leadership Predicts Lumber Price, New Administration Effects on Housing

The National Association of Home Builders’ Chief Economist Robert Dietz sits down with leadership to discuss the potential impacts both building material prices and the new administration may have on the industry. Dietz, on NAHB’s Housing Developments podcast, says 2020 brought an 11% increase of single-family construction and that could continue through 2021 to a 5% increase.

The downturn of multifamily construction in 2020 will continue, but as the unemployment rate levels off, multifamily construction will stabilize. Currently, lumber prices are back up to $875 per 1,000 board feet—a 60% gain just from mid-November, according to Dietz. Timing, from supply chains to construction timelines, continues to increase and NAHB believes this will only continue.

Listen to the full podcast here.