Surging lumber prices put buying a home out of reach for many Americans
CBSN
The price of lumber in the U.S. has tripled during the coronavirus pandemic, adding thousands of dollars to the cost of a new house.
Framing lumber was priced at $1,200 per thousand board feet as of late April, a 250% increase from the year-ago period when the price was about $350, according to an analysis from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). For house hunters, that adds an average of nearly $36,000 to the price of a home, the trade group said. "Right now I can't tell anybody how much a house is going to cost," Alicia Huey, a homebuilder in Alabama, told CBS News correspondent Mireya Villarreal.
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