Lumber Prices Down But There’s More To Do, Commerce Secretary Tells NAHB
“Supply chain disruptions are at the top of my mind.”
Lumber prices are down nearly 40% from their peak in May, but there is more to be done to help the home building industry recover from its supply chain woes, Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo told the National Association of Homebuilders leadership council recently.
“President Biden and the Department of Commerce are committed to getting the industry back on its feet. Supply chain disruptions are at the top of my mind. We want to make sure you have access to the materials you need to start new construction,” Raimondo said in a presentation.
Noting she has been appointed co-chair of the White House Supply Chain Task Force, the Commerce Secretary said she wants to work with public and private stakeholders to find long- and short-term solutions to the problem.
Some builders are viewing the lumber price drop cautiously.
Nicholas Minoia, managing principal, at Northeast CRE builder and owner Diversified Properties, calls himself “cautiously optimistic” given “lots of focus by those empowered to do something to continue to keep pressure on to reverse the upward trend,” as he told GlobeSt.com.
Despite the drop in prices, Adam Mopsick, CEO of South Florida-based Amicon, which offers general contracting, owner representation, design-build, and property inspections services, told GlobeSt.com. “Our project managers are currently not considering this long term and continue to strategize project budgets to include higher pricing as the demand continues to soar in local markets like luxury residential and ground-up commercial development.”
In an expression of caution, Mike Wisnefski, CEO of online commodities marketplace MaterialsXchange, told GlobeSt.com there could be a price rebound as postponed building resumes.
“As we got to very high prices relative to recent history, anyone who could push a project off pushed a project off,” he noted.