FARGO (KFGO) – The president of the Home Builders Association of Fargo-Moorhead says supply chain issues, high material costs, and construction labor shortages remain challenges for the industry and home buyers.
David Reid said, on a national average, there’s been an overall 33% increase in the cost of housing material in the past two years. Citing some examples, he said framing lumber is up 165% and the cost of plywood sheathing has increased 217%.
“Our board consists of several builders that have been doing this for 30-40 years and no one has ever seen anything quite like this,” Reid said. “It’s been such a perfect storm.”
The home builder said he’s seen even higher costs for some construction material locally. Despite the increased costs and other problems, Reid says residential housing construction demand is “super high.”
“What I’m seeing locally, it’s still a strong market, demand is high, all of my subcontractors and vendors – everyone’s busy,” Reid said. “A lot of people are booked for the year. There’s a lot of work going on out there.”
Reid said it’s impossible to say how long these inflated building material costs will remain, but he said, “hopefully it’s not the new normal.”
Comments