During a virtual White House listening session on resolving the lumber and building material supply chain woes, NAHB chairman Jerry Konter urged the Biden administration to increase domestic production of timber from federal lands and to work on a new softwood lumber agreement with Canada that would eliminate tariffs. During the meeting, Konter shared that home building material costs are up 20% year over year. Since August, the price of framing lumber has more than tripled and OSB prices have doubled.
“Historically high price levels for lumber and other building materials are dramatically affecting home prices and rental costs and threaten the nation’s economic stability,” Konter said during the meeting. “Supply chain price increases have only added to the ongoing housing affordability crisis.”
Konter said “few things would have a more immediate” impact on lumber markets than a resolution to the ongoing trade dispute with Canada. Additionally, Konter called on policymakers to help boost domestic production by seeking higher targets for timber sales from publicly owned lands and opening up additional federal forest lands for logging in an environmentally sustainable manner.
