Posted on 04/14/2021 9:33:00 AM PDT by blam
With median prices for both existing and new homes at all time highs, and soaring at a record annualized rate of almost 20%...
... increasingly more Americans find themselves priced out of homeownership, while still cautious banks refuse to lend them the mortgages they so desperately need to live the American Dream (on credit).
And unfortunately, since most US houses are made out of wood, we have even more bad news: home prices are about to get even more expensive if for no other reason than the frenzy sweeping the lumber market is set to keep going through the summer peak of US home building as labor shortages and depleted inventories mean that supplies can’t keep up with skyrocketing demand.
As Bloomberg summarizes what we have observed across the past few months of torrid, sometimes panicked, ISM Survey Responses such as this one...
“Things are now out of control. Everything is a mess, and we are seeing wide-scale shortages.”
... there is an unprecedented shortage and tightness across the entire timber supply chain. Sawmills have had trouble ramping up fast enough to meet the surge in demand. Meanwhile, trucking delays and worker shortages at lumber yards have added to costs, which are now getting passed on to consumers. Worst of all, the bigger cost component of any new house l Lumber prices - have surged more than 60% to record highs this year, and analysts aren’t expecting any relief until late 2021, if not later.
That, according to Bloomberg, will keep pouring fuel on red-hot home prices, making ownership less affordable for large swathes of the population (one would almost think it was the Fed's plan to destroy the middle class). Soaring wood costs have already added more than $24,000 to the price
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at bizpatriot.com ...
My friends who fix up houses say lumber prices have skyrocketed, so I suggested using steel framing. Then we took a look at the price of steel and, coincidentally, it had an enormous price increase starting in November of last year and accelerated even more in December.
Can anyone think of some event that happened in that timeframe which could cause such massive inflation?
>> I would think there would be a housing glut - a buyer’s market.
Me too, which is why I have never made any money in real estate so far...
...thought for sure when covid hit and airbnb’s were out of business for months and months that there was going to be a glut of investment homes coming onto the market.
Boy was I wrong.
Here’s a tip: PAY MORE.”
I know trucking firms are having difficulty finding people who can pass a drug test. Add in obesity and it is difficult to fine qualified help.
Was in Lowes yesterday, and the plywood prices were like off the charts!................
Here’s a tip: PAY MORE.
Why?
My first home was brand-new and in a nice neighborhood.
I'd think that the people buying fixer-uppers are those that want to rent them out, a foolish proposition these days. Or flippers.
Cash buyers purchase fixers, as banks do not mortgage them.
“Copper is up dramatically...”
We made a run to the Scrap Yard two weeks ago with an assortment of metals. Copper, by far, was the big winner. We got $62 for scrap wire and plumbing that had been in the barn, forever.
Then, we went to Menard’s (like Home Depot) and blew it all (and more!) on other building materials and canning jars. ;)
Bring it, ‘Biden/Harris.’ I ain’t afraid of you!
Low interest rates and stimulus checks.
BTW, the time to buy is when interest rates are high. People buy a payment, not a price. And with high interest rates you get lower prices and the ability to refinance when rates come down.
What we are seeing now is the result of low rates - higher prices.
There have been numerous articles and mentions of us going to a jimmie carter enconomy. In 1980, I bought a new house at 13% interest rate on the mortgage...my neighbor had 18%.
Cash buyers purchase fixers, as banks do not mortgage them.
No.
.
Millinials don’t buy fixer uppers. They want turn key. They don’t even want to paint. They want neutral colors on walls.
It’s the sawmills where the bottleneck is.
Or are too smart to pay high figures in property taxes annually.
Vehicle prices are through the roof in my opinion because of charging what the traffic will bear and it will bear a lot. People don’t seem to care what the price is so long as they can afford the payments. That is so long as the lenders are willing. Same goes for houses. Stick framing lumber is up right at 400% in the last year and other building supplies have followed suit.
Why is anyone in their right mind building anything right now? Why is anyone in their right mind loaning money on a house that is so clearly over priced in a bubble? Why is anyone willing to move or buy in such an inflated market? Why is there no resistance to these exploded prices for goods?
Gasoline is merely going back to where it was pre-scamdemic. There should be no surprise or fear in that. It was historically cheap even before the prices fell.
Lumber and building supplies on the other hand have exploded and still show no sign of slowing. I sincerely hope this comes to a screeching halt and the suppliers choke to death on inflated price inventory and have to eat it all.
Why is renting out a foolish proposition? The article itself mentions that more people are now renting due to the high cost of buying. I have a bunch of rentals and they fill up just as soon as they become vacant. Lock in a long term, low interest mortgage rate and you will have a protection against inflation since the rent can be raised every year.
Lots of businesses toss busted pallets or pallets that are the wrong size for normal use in the warehouse. If you want lots of free wood get to know one a little and they will be happy to unload their junk on you.
Not about the pay... it’s about the competency of those applying. The postings don’t have $s listed.
my point is, is that we are far from rich...getting by...but we have "enough" to live very comfortably....
yet we wouldn't even consider going out and buying a brand new truck or car....
these younger people are in debt up their eyeballs and they just don't seem to care.
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