The cost of building materials has increased nearly 5% since the start of 2022, and are up more than 19% from a year earlier, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said today.
On its website, the NAHB reported that, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices of goods used in residential construction, excluding energy and not seasonally adjusted, climbed 0.5% in April, following upward revisions of increases of 1.9% and 2.4% in March and February, respectively.
The year-to-date increases add up to a 4.9% increase in building materials prices since the start of the year, NAHB said. Building materials prices also are up 19.2% year over year, and have risen 35.6% since the start of the pandemic, the NAHB said.
In addition, David Logan. NAHB director of tax and trade policy analysis, said the price index of services inputs to residential construction rose 0.9% in April. He also noted the index was upwardly revised for March, causing the monthly increase to jump from 3.2% to 6.8% over the month.
“As a result, the price index of services used in home building — including trade services, transportation, and warehousing — has climbed 13.3% since the start of the year."
Year-over-year, the index has increased 18.1% and is up 45.6% since the start of the pandemic, Logan said..
For materials, the specific increases include:
Softwood lumber: The PPI for softwood lumber (seasonally adjusted) declined 15.6% in April, following a downwardly revised 5.4% increase in March and a 2.5% gain in February. As a result, the index now is down 8.9% over the first four months of 2022. Since reaching its most recent trough in September 2021, prices have risen 60.4%.
Steel products: Steel mill products prices (not seasonally adjusted) climbed 2.4% in April — the first monthly increase since December 2021. Nonetheless, the first four months of 2022 have been positive for the cost of derivative steel products after increasing 128% in 2021.
Ready-mix concrete: The PPI for ready-mix concrete (RMC) prices rose 1.3% (seasonally adjusted) in April after a small decline in March. The index has climbed 8.9% year over year and is 12.6% higher than the January 2021 reading.
Gypsum products: The PPI for gypsum products (seasonally adjusted) was flat in April. The prices of gypsum products are up 17.8% year over year and have increased 23.5% since January 2021.
