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Several contractors have told me recently that residential construction costs in RI have almost doubled for some building materials. Especially, anything made of wood. And, they don't seem to understand clearly why. This may be a nation-wide circumstance related (or unrelated) to Covid.
Same thing happening here in Northeast Florida as we watch the same happening in RI and surrounding areas on realtor.com.
A friend who is a project superintendent for about 12 years for a large regional developer said this is the first time he has had crews show up in the mornings and he doesn't have material for them to get started. It is not just lumber but roofing materials, windows, etc.
I have to say that I grew up in Warwick (which is quite a big suburb) in the early sixties so I missed out on seeing the post WWII housing boom. What we have here with dozens of developments with hundreds and thousands of houses being built right now here in our area is something I have never seen the likes of. I could have never imagined seeing thousands of homes being built and so easily sold. The developers cannot keep up with the demand and existing homes are selling for asking and above in days.
I really do not think anyone has a clear understanding of what is driving this.
Same thing happening here in Northeast Florida as we watch the same happening in RI and surrounding areas on realtor.com.
A friend who is a project superintendent for about 12 years for a large regional developer said this is the first time he has had crews show up in the mornings and he doesn't have material for them to get started. It is not just lumber but roofing materials, windows, etc.
I have to say that I grew up in Warwick (which is quite a big suburb) in the early sixties so I missed out on seeing the post WWII housing boom. What we have here with dozens of developments with hundreds and thousands of houses being built right now here in our area is something I have never seen the likes of. I could have never imagined seeing thousands of homes being built and so easily sold. The developers cannot keep up with the demand and existing homes are selling for asking and above in days.
I really do not think anyone has a clear understanding of what is driving this.
That a large segment of the population's homes have become unhinged from proximity to the workplace may be part of it. Covid has substantially accelerated what had already been a slow trend of working from home instead of the office. In parts of Rhode Island, this has brought a ton of out-of-state buyers into markets with still few sellers.
A low-grade 2x4 that cost $3 a year ago now costs $8. Plywood is astronomical now, what used to be $17 or so a year ago is now $50 a sheet. For an 8'x4' sheet!!! Now multiply all that by how much a house needs.
Believe it. That's inflation for ya, hurting the poor, working class, and middle class the most.
But Biden and Jerome Powell have no intention of turning the printing presses off.....Brrrrrrrrrrrr Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr (that's the sound of the printing press, and also your savings being ground to a pulp).
Keep in mind that labor costs are going up, up, and up, and yet companies cannot find tradesmen willing to do work. Half the country is staying home working zero hours per week and collecting a fat unemployment check plus stimmy checks with no questions asked. At what point do you incentivize someone to actually want to work 40 hours per week plus drive to a jobsite?
A low-grade 2x4 that cost $3 a year ago now costs $8. Plywood is astronomical now, what used to be $17 or so a year ago is now $50 a sheet. For an 8'x4' sheet!!! Now multiply all that by how much a house needs.
Believe it. That's inflation for ya, hurting the poor, working class, and middle class the most.
But Biden and Jerome Powell have no intention of turning the printing presses off.....Brrrrrrrrrrrr Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr (that's the sound of the printing press, and also your savings being ground to a pulp).
Keep in mind that labor costs are going up, up, and up, and yet companies cannot find tradesmen willing to do work. Half the country is staying home working zero hours per week and collecting a fat unemployment check plus stimmy checks with no questions asked. At what point do you incentivize someone to actually want to work 40 hours per week plus drive to a jobsite?
No it is supply and demand. Supply is way down and demand to build is through the roof. Come on buddy. Lumber was high, way through the roof from September on. Biden wasnt even in office. Like come on... what are you even on about?
Like Im trying to feel for RI right now but you are making it wicked hard -Massachoicetts
No it is supply and demand. Supply is way down and demand to build is through the roof. Come on buddy. Lumber was high, way through the roof from September on. Biden wasnt even in office. Like come on... what are you even on about?
Like Im trying to feel for RI right now but you are making it wicked hard -Massachoicetts
I don't think Mr. Hammer is a Rhode Islander. He seems far too capable of independent thought. And that he understands the discussed phenomenon as nationwide and not unique to Rhode Island only serves to bolster my case.
Last edited by PureBoston; 04-24-2021 at 09:08 PM..
No it is supply and demand. Supply is way down and demand to build is through the roof. Come on buddy. Lumber was high, way through the roof from September on. Biden wasnt even in office. Like come on... what are you even on about?
Like Im trying to feel for RI right now but you are making it wicked hard -Massachoicetts
Of course, it's supply & demand. And, this certainly doesn't look like a "Biden Problem", at least on the materials side. Unlike, in the restaurant & hospitality industries, no contractor has mentioned to me getting workers is an issue because of "stimmy".
GCs are refusing to lock in the materials side of building contracts. It's really raising hell with architects materials budgets also. Their computer estimators can't update fast enough. In my area, good architects are backed up, with the best firms designing houses to be built 18-24 months out, by necessity not plan.
It's predicted this may all blow over when Covid does. I'm not so sure there won't be long lingering effects at the least, perhaps even lasting changes to building supply & demand.
Last edited by independent man; 04-25-2021 at 04:54 AM..
Of course, it's supply & demand. And, this certainly doesn't look like a "Biden Problem", at least on the materials side. Unlike, in the restaurant & hospitality industries, no contractor has mentioned to me getting workers is an issue because of "stimmy".
GCs are refusing to lock in the materials side of building contracts. It's really raising hell with architects materials budgets also. Their computer estimators can't update fast enough. In my area, good architects are backed up, with the best firms designing houses to be built 18-24 months out, by necessity not plan.
It's predicted this may all blow over when Covid does. I'm not so sure there won't be long lingering effects at the least, perhaps even lasting changes to building supply & demand.
For a better idea of post-Covid construction, let's have a look at pre-Covid. In 2018, Rhode Island had the fewest building permits per capita in the country at 1.2. Other laggards were predictably high tax/low job/poor economy states as well: Connecticut at 1.3, West Virginia at 1.7, Illinois at 1.7 and New York at 1.9 sitting 49th, 48th, 47th and 46th respectively. All of the usual suspects identified in the lineup. No other state in the country fell below 2.0. Not Mississippi, not Louisiana, not Alabama and not Arkansas. And certainly not Florida, Texas or North Carolina. For comparison in New England other than CT: MA at 2.2, NH at 2.8, VT at 2.9 and ME at 3.4. And this of course due to Rhode Island being "tiny" and "densely populated"? New Jersey, more densely populated, at 3.1. And Delaware, not even twice as large, at 6.1, betray the typical insularity of this logic. No, the greatest driver of new construction is population growth, and the greatest driver of population growth is economic opportunity. It's not a pretty sight, but the chickens are returning home to roost as Rhode Island and Connecticut drop away from the rest of New England toward economic and demographic oblivion.
Last edited by PureBoston; 04-25-2021 at 10:08 AM..
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