Timber! A Rise and fall of lumber prices

Today is a good time to look in wood prices. Over the last year we have seen a steep rise and many challenging and unpredictable moments in lumber prices impacting prices in especially podium style multi-family apartments. The trends and results depicted in the below chart (NAHB - Framing Lumber Prices) suggest and very volatile market which is causing concerns in planning and protection of pricing for new job starts. In meeting with many trades in the area the discussion over pricing and escalation protection is becoming a challenge.

Add to that supply-and-demand cost pressure the potentially disruptive effect of new tariffs and retaliatory responses--and their impact on input costs--and the challenge of holding down overall construction costs, and at the same time hold profit margins becomes a harder one to achieve.

I come from a high-rise career and have delivered over 20k units, but the use of wood in podium/wrap style delivery of type 5 over 1 or type 3 construction continues to gain popularity in urban infill and suburban projects across the country and locally and can’t be ignored. We @ Build Group are building new and concentrated relationships with different trade groups and AEC firms as well as clients to embrace this sector niche. We currently have several projects under construction and even more in planning in the Los Angeles market.

Framing Lumber Prices

The prices listed below provide an overview of the behaviors within the U.S. framing lumber pricing market. The information is sourced each week using the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite, which is comprised using prices from the highest volume-producing regions of the U.S. and Canada.

NAHB - Lumber Prices Stats

Todd Pennington is President of our Los Angeles team, Todd brings a vast business and project leadership and strategist with a proven success record over 30 years delivering local/regional businesses and strategic business units, for diverse customers across all sectors and services. Balances needs and expectations of client and company with safety and staff. Todd has constructed in 8 states and 56 cities across all sectors in ever-changing market conditions with no claims or disputes. Todd has worked on a total construction valuation exceeding $22 billion.