Lumber Prices Starting To Drop After Drastic Increase During Pandemic

Rochester, N.Y. — In 2020, the price of lumber hit an all-time high, and since then, it's been a rollercoaster ride. Recently, however, experts said prices are starting to drop slowly.

Kevin Mondschein has been working away at his new home in Greece, and with the recent fluctuations in lumber costs, he believes he picked the right time to build.

"It's definitely gone up and down with the market, but locking it in when we locked it in was good timing," said Mondschein.

At the height of the pandemic, some construction companies shifted their business models as the price of lumber spiked to unprecedented levels.

"Since about 2020, prices have actually gone up 130 percent," said Mondschein. "They’re starting to come down a little bit, but the prices are still significantly higher than they were in 2020."

Contractors like Dave Triassi at Profection Construction said they've pivoted to smaller jobs, with many customers opting to hold off on big home projects until the prices drop.

"We tend to do more handyman work - fixing stuff that they’ve neglected for a while because they were looking at doing those big projects, but are now looking at," said Triassi. "Let’s fix the stuff that really needs to be fixed, and we’ll look at the bigger projects as time goes on."

Rick Herman, the head of the Rochester Home Builders Association, believes the price of lumber, which is measured per thousand board feet, is starting to drop.

"Lumber prices were up around $14,000-$15,000 a board foot," said Herman. "That’s come down considerably, and it’s been fluctuating the last three or four months. Right now, the last time I checked, it was right around $1,000 per board."

That's good news for people like Mondschein, who opted to build because of the competitive real estate market.

"We looked at quite a few houses before we decided to build, and everything was going above value," said Mondschein. "They all needed $100,000 worth of work, and where do you draw the line? You’re ending up paying the same amount anyway, so might as well get everything brand new and how you like it."

Herman said anyone delaying their projects shouldn't expect pre-pandemic prices anytime soon for lumber and other raw building materials.

"Unfortunately, with the economic conditions we are faced with right now, not only here in the United States but globally, people have to understand that times have changed," said Herman. "For the time being, they’re going to have to pay a little bit more if they want that new home, or that new project in that home."

Herman, Triassi, and Mondschein all added that with this drop in price and good weather coming back, more projects may start popping up in the near future.