Weekend Morning and Evening Meteorologist/ Reporter
FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) - As mortgage rates continue to climb, new home demand is easing. That in turn, it is creating larger wood inventories at lumber yards.
Could now be the time to consider building that outdoor deck or other home improvements?
New home sales are falling due in part to higher mortgage rates, and that's affecting a key component those homes are made from - wood.
Lumber prices have dropped more than 55% since March.
Tyler Begley is the outside sales representative with Michigan Lumber in Flint. He said that retail prices have come down a bit more slowly.
"End of April, beginning of May we really started to see stuff start to go down. And now, it's at more of a trickle. Every week we get reports on it," he said.
Begley says it's a juggling act to balance inventories and pricing.
"We got to be careful, just because we have a lot of inventory here and we can't get caught with stuff that's way overpriced," he said.
For example, at the peak, an eight foot long 2'x4' cost $13-$14.
Half inch OSB plywood has come down from as high as $60 a sheet to $20-$30 a sheet, but these prices are still double or more from pre-pandemic prices.
While "do it yourself-ers" will be able to build their project faster by purchasing materials themselves, those who still may have to wait a while if you hire a contractor, due to supply chain issues and other factors.
Other costs, from transportation to staffing has gone up, offsetting savings from lower wood prices, according to Emery Thomas, owner of Thomas-built LLC.
"When I was a journeyman carpenter, I made $24-$25 an hour. People are wanting to start at $22-$23 dollars an hour just to be a laborer," he said.
Even though lumber prices have come down, something else to consider - plastic or vinyl planking.
It has several advantages, including lasting longer than traditional wood boards and less maintenance over the long haul.
Although wood prices have come down, lumber experts are not predicting them to return to pre-pandemic bargain prices consumers were accustomed too - anytime soon.
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Weekend Morning and Evening Meteorologist/ Reporter
Kevin Goff is the weekend evening meteorologist and a weekday reporter at ABC12 News.
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