Lumber prices dropping as supply chain issues subside, new home builds decline

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Encouraging news when it comes to a major product affected by supply chain issues: The price of lumber is dropping.

Tim Ferguson, vice president of Christensen Lumber in the Omaha area, tells 6 News there are two key factors: inflation plus higher mortgage rates are pushing down demand for new home construction.

As a result, lumber is more readily available.

Looking at houses under construction in west Omaha, near Gretna, there is lots of wood sitting in lots ready to be pounded and nailed.

Ferguson said that for a 1,700-square-foot ranch-style home in June 2021, the lumber framing cost was $67,700. That cost has now dropped to $38,500 — a savings of 43%.

It’s not just the big lumber companies.

Terry Zuck, who manages Woodcraft of Omaha, said that as the cold weather sets in, people are going indoors and starting their indoor projects. He said the price of wood is dropping, and that’s good news for woodworkers and other customers.

“A lot of the hardwoods, the favorite woods — oak, cherry, and all of that — they are really starting to stabilize and come down,” Zuck said.

He said that a lot of do-it-yourselfers are redoing their countertops, making coffee tables and sofa tables, and are flocking to the store in west Omaha to pick up specific types of woods.

The only real shortage is Baltic Birch. That type of wood comes mainly from Ukraine, and supplies are not getting out because of the Russian invasion.

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