Lumber prices skyrocketing as demand increases

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – According to Rosendo Alaniz, manager at Armstrong Lumber, lumber prices appear to be skyrocketing during the pandemic. A piece of plywood, typically used for the roofs of houses, went from $ 7 to $ 8 to about $ 50 a piece.

“At the moment we see how it goes until who knows,” said Alaniz. “We have never had this before, the freight is more than ever to get it to us.”

Alaniz said the pandemic was one of the reasons for the high prices. He said either several workers in mills became sick or capacity was reduced, which reduced production. Another reason for the price hike is the major freeze in February; One of the roofs on one of the mills collapsed, causing other mills across the state to sprout production.

“Every time we order, every week the wood goes up, we can’t keep any offers out. We used to keep our offers for 30 days,” said Alaniz. “Now we’re keeping our offers for a week or 10 days because we don’t know what we’re going to pay for next week.”

Jed Ransom, a broker at Remax, told KRIS 6 News that supply and demand are also increasing the price of homes.

“I think prices will go up, I think they will go above price like they do in the other big cities,” Ransom said. “I see houses that are 5 to 10 thousand dollars above the price.” “”

A year ago, a mid-price home was about $ 204,000; now it’s $ 245,000.

The price of lumber is expected to go up before it goes down.