Thunder Bay – BUSINESS – Lumber prices have hit record levels over the past year. The global COVID-19 pandemic first hit hard causing the shutdown of many sawmills. The expectation was that 2020 would be another solid year of home building in Canada.
That was slowed at first by the pandemic.
Supplies of lumber were depleted, and then something that wasn’t expected happened, many homeowners started doing home renovations and upgrades to their homes.
Demand surged. When there is reduced supply and increased demand, prices climb. Right now a basic 2″x4″ 8′ piece of lumber, the wood used for framing a home has climbed to almost ten dollars.
People looking for productive things to do during the provincial lockdown are finding that in their woodshed, in building new decks, in renovating their homes.
It is uncertain how long the boom in prices will continue, but it will in the short run see the cost of home building for new homes spike upwards.
This has also put pressure on real estate sales of homes, as people who might have looked for a newly built home are now looked at the homes in the existing market.
