Higher construction costs, rising home prices and building supply shortages have combined to drop builder confidence to its lowest level in 13 months, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

Building material prices have increased a record 13% year to date and 19.4% over the past 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported.

By contrast, the average rise of building materials prices between January and July was +1.2% from 2015 through 2019 (the most recent data available), less than one-tenth of 2021's current gain.

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