As if the low housing inventory wasn’t bad enough – especially in the Bay Area – a severe lumber shortage, made considerably worse by the pandemic, is slowing new home construction. A number of lumber mills closed for good during the Great Recession and the stay-at-home orders during the pandemic made the situation that much worse.
Lumber futures have increased by over 540 percent in a little over a year! Analysts say this will result in a $35,900 increase in the average cost of a new single-family home.
While lumber mills are finally amping up operations, experts warn that a shortage of imports from Canada and the high cost of diesel fuel – needed for logging trucks – will continue to have an adverse effect for the foreseeable future.
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