After a period of significant increases, the growth in the prices of building materials has slowed according to June Producer Price data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Year-over-year growth in gypsum prices slowed by 3.8 percentage points to 15.6%. Annual softwood lumber price growth decelerated by 8.7 percentage points to 8.0%. And Oriented Strand Board (OSB) prices grew by 37.0% year-over-year in June, still high, but 17.8 percentage points less than the year-over-year growth recorded in May.
The slowing of the growth of building material prices is good news for builders and bears watching for the rest of 2013.
For the economy as a whole, producer prices for finished goods rose by 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis in June, the second consecutive month of growth.
Eye on Housing 
We shouldn’t be alarmed by rising prices for the cost of materials. Any smart homeowner knows how important it is to maintain things around the house like the plumbing, roof, gutters and so on for drainage issues. Homeowners insurance is very limited in what it covers due to water damage, so your best bet at keeping costs down for unnecessary repair bills is to check the drainage around the home
[…] process ceased during the downturn and restarting the several-year procedure takes time. Building material prices spiked earlier this year as starts moved up but producers of building supplies took time to add capacity, workers and raw […]
[…] Prices of building materials, which rose significantly over the course of 2013, continue to increase…. Year-over-year growth in gypsum prices slowed by 3.7 percentage points to 15.6%. Annual softwood lumber price growth decelerated by 8.7 percentage points to 8.0%. And Oriented Strand Board prices grew by 37.0% year over year in June, still high, but 24.8 percentage points less than the year-over-year growth recorded in May. […]
[…] via NAHB […]
[…] future. Although the growth in material costs is slower than when we posted on the issue in May, recent reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that material costs have continued to climb. Drywall prices continue to climb almost 16% […]
[…] future. Although the growth in material costs is slower than when we posted on the issue in May, recent reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that material costs have continued to climb. Drywall prices continue to climb almost 16% […]