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Lumber prices are finally beginning to drop, and that’s a welcome sign for some Nebraska home builders who've sometimes eaten the large up-front cost of pricey commodities this year.
Lumber futures for July ended down 42% from May – when prices hit record highs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Roger Brummels, a Norfolk-based draftsman at Century Lumber Center, said the impact of decreasing lumber futures isn’t being felt quite yet. For Brummels, the futures mean better-looking prices should follow in the next couple of months .
"It will bring people back into the market that have put their projects on hold," Brummels said. "If there's a softening in the lumber market and other things, they're going to decide, 'It's time to do it; let's do it. And it will become a fall project for most contractors.”
Even with the decrease, the lumber futures remain nearly three times greater than typical levels for this time of year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Lumber prices had hit all times highs last month because of shortages in supply, among other factors. For some consumers, those high prices meant paying $40,000 more to build a modest-sized home. With historically low interest rates, however, Nebraska experts said, for the most part, the high prices didn’t stymie building.