Another data point has arrived to suggest that anyone hoping for construction material costs to stabilize is queued up for another round of disappointment. The construction producer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month showed a range of CRE sector year-over-year increases from 20.1% to 21.7%. Lumber prices seem back on their way up.

So Linesight's commodity report shouldn't be surprising. The global construction consultancy "expects prices for construction commodities to remain high and volatile in 2022," even though many thought that the first quarter of the year would bring stabilization.

Inflation, including the construction materials-specific type, continues to take a toll. Between the $8.50 per cubic foot price last quarter of 2021 and first quarter of 2022, lumber prices saw the largest quarter-over-quarter increase at a 79.5% jump, which would be $15.26. They are expected to continue climbing through 2022 until they reach $16.10, "mostly due to the increase in tariffs on Canadian lumber imports into the U.S."