Have You Been Affected By Michigan’s Rising Lumber Prices?

My boyfriend, Jordan, and I are among the MANY people who are working on some renovating projects over the course of the past year so let me tell you, we have been noticing the effects of the rising costs of lumber.

Jordan bought a house that was pretty much gutted and we've been working on getting rooms framed in, things built and thought about re-doing our deck but with how much even plywood costs now, we have had to really look at our budget and re-evaluate what is realistic at the time.

So what the heck is going on?

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Michigan Lumber Shortage

Apparently, according to WILX, there is not only a lumber shortage here in Michigan but across other states as well. So what gives?

I mean, Northeast Michigan, the Huron National Forest and Au Sable River area was known for logging.

However, the Home Builders Association of Michigan told WILX low interest rates on home loans have made the demand for building and remodeling rise to an unexpected level.

Bridge Michigan Business Watch also reports a number of factors contributing to the shortage and rising costs including: lumber factory closures due to COVID-19 shutdowns as well as limited wood harvesting seasons due to forest fires in the summer of 2020.

How It's Affecting Michigan Business

Just to put this increase into some perspective (if you haven't had to deal with it first-hand), according to Bridge Michigan Business Watch, builders say that 1,000 square feet of framing board cost them about $250, pre-pandemic. Now, they cite data from National Association of Home Builders in reporting the cost for that type of wood now has hit $1,420 as of recently.

“Anyone doing a home renovation project or anyone looking at building a new home or remodeling is going to be impacted," Bob Filka Home Builders Associations' CEO, told WILX. "Prices in the last year for a typical new single family home has added 36,000 to the cost of a typical home."

The "sticker shock" alone is enough to deter customers as Vice President of Russell Builders Inc., Nate Russell also tells WILX as his business' average cost has risen 15-20% while another local builder said business is down 50%.

Now, as of May 03, 2021, Bridge Michigan Business Watch reports help is being sought from the government and as builders wait for some sort of solution, they are making sure to add "escalation clauses" into their contracts to cover any further increases in lumber costs.

This is an issue that goes way beyond not being able to finish your deck before summer, though I know I would love to have ours done, but let's hope builders are not the next industry to go under due to (in part) the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the housing market continues to boom, here's a few homes in Mid-Michigan worth looking at...just don't plan to renovate any time soon: