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I'm wondering if anyone has noticed (or not noticed) the prices of building materials and have they gone down at all? Lumber, painting supplies, electrical?
Has supply and demand been affected with the drop in the housing industry? Have people taken to remodeling rather then trying to sell in this economy?
I passed by Lowes the other day and the parking lot was rather full which got me thinking about all of this. I would not think that Christmas holiday would have much to do with it, tools maybe.
Hi 6genet/Kevin,
Real estate and building materials are actually different markets that are not always that closely tied, especially now when the real estate market is heavily influenced by distressed resale homes . What has the price of gas and oil done? THAT is going to affect building material prices much more than the housing market.
From all the trade journals I receive each month, the price of building materials continue to go up and up and up. Forget about the old supply and demand theory they teach in school. During these DEPRESSION times those rules are just hogwash.
I think people are in a panic to keep their homes up to date with the latest trends because it seems you are never going to sell a house unless it has granite countertops. Well according to HGTV.
Lowes has increased all their prices these last few months, and are doing more everyday. menards is a better place to buy now , so may be your local building supply company. Shop around, as , the " cheap" prices on building materials is coming to an end. the last 3 years were good times to buy materials , now its changing , as invetories are down , and the stores are now gearing up to purchase. The Building material mfg. companies are busy, a back log is starting to develope, even while the cost to build new far exceeds buying already built depressed homes.... new Home building IS up around the Country. Its a great time to build , just scale down your grand plans , and go for enegery/green/operating costs and a smaller overall home than you had planed, or dreamed about several years ago.
Lumber is a commodity- plain and simple.
Price is primarily driven by housing demand. And then there are the trade wars- that a story for another time.
The one thing most people don't realize about the big box stores is they only carry #2 or better lumber. And building a house (for example) doesn't require everything to be #2 or better. And buying from a wholesaler with a board/feet contract can be extremely beneficial financially.
Whenever I need info on lumber- prices, news, tariffs (Canada), etc. I use this site; http://www.sticktrade.com/
It IS true , all Commodities are going up in price. However , these last few years , the demand for many items has been show , warehouse invetories were high ,, so , prices were down. OSB is the best example , a 4 x 8 sheet has been down to under 5.00 while I built 2 years ago. Now its back up to 9.00-12.00. You use a lot of OSB while building a new home, sub flooring,roofing, wall framing, and decking. I did not see the price of 2 x 6 structural at such a drastic reduction, same for 2 x 12 and 2 x 10s. Everyone is different, a lot depends on the type and construction of your home. I wish I had used more concrete and steel, which , was at lesser prices for the same quality and structural requirements.
During the past five years, prices for most construction materials have fluctuated wildly. Metals, cement/concrete, asphalt oil, and lumber have jumped all over the place.
There are a lot of factors involved. For a while, the Chinese were buying up all of the cement and metals. Prices went thruogh the roof. Then they stopped and prices crashed.
We took in a truckload of old steam radiators to the scrap yard in 2007 (or 2008?) and we got something around $400. A year later we took in about the same weight and got $3.45.
Wire got very expensive for a while, then it dropped literally over night. The price has been slowly creeping back up, but I to not think that it is back up to the 2006 prices. (If I remember correctly it was over $100 for a 250' roll of 12-2 for a while, then suddenly I saw it as cheap as $45, but now it is back up to around $70).
In our area, the price for aggregate material and stone went pretty low as competition got fierce, but now pretty much everyone went out of business so the prices are way way up. THere is little competition and much of the material has ot be hauled a greater distance sinc ehte nearby plants all closed.
Lumber jumps around in part due to demand, but in large part due to availability issues. For example, a flood, a fire or a blight in certain parts of the country can make prices soar. When the event ends, they come back down some, but usually not to where they were. Reduced demand can actually make prices increase. It is cheaper per unit to make 1 million 2x4s than it is to make 10 thousand. THus, at times, when demand drops, prices increase.
I use as much savlaged materials as I can find. It is cheaper, it saves trees and reduces pollution (both at the dump and in manufacturing), and if you find old enough lumber, it is much stronger than what they sell today. Obviously some things like insulation, wire and plumbing are not reusable, but lumber, doors moldings, flooring, hardware, some tile and stone, kitchen cabinets, plumbing and electrical fixtures, some windows, and simlar materials can readily be reused.
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