Prices paid for goods used in residential construction increased 0.8% in April (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices have risen more quickly thus far in 2019 (+3.2%) than they did during the same period in 2018 (+2.8%) and are at their highest level since last October.
Consistent with weekly data published by Random Lengths, the PPI report shows that softwood lumber prices declined in April. After climbing 0.5% in March, prices paid for softwood lumber decreased 1.4% over the prior month. While the PPI for softwood lumber has fallen 12.6% over the last 12 months, 95% of that decline occurred in 2018.
OSB prices fell 3.9% in April, the fourth decrease over the past seven months. During that period, prices have fallen roughly 30%.
Read more at NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog.
