(CKOM News Staff)

By Logan Stein

‘This isn’t normal’: Lumber prices higher than ever

Aug 24, 2020 | 5:43 PM

The price of lumber is the highest it’s ever been.

That’s according to Rick Casavant, president of Warman Homes. Lumber prices have gone up 104 per cent in Canada, forcing lumber and wood panel products to skyrocket in price.

The biggest reason for the increase in price? People choosing to do home projects.

“People are doing more projects at home, buying houses, it’s important for the economy,” Casavant said. “Mills lost millions of dollars being shut down from COVID, so now they are recouping their losses.”

“Lumber is up more than double, it’s strictly supply and demand. There have been shortages, there has been much less production overall.”

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It’s not all positive news for the people impacted by the price surge. Casavant described the massive increase as concerning saying “this isn’t normal” when referring to the current market.

“This is a side effect that we have never seen before,” Casavant said. “There is no sign that the market will drop, I think it will go even higher.”

“It hurts some businesses because when inventory costs a lot of money, they can’t afford to hold onto it.” He said. “financially it can be a burden on some companies.”

Homeowners and buyers will also feel the increase.

“Consumers will be paying higher prices,” Casavant said. “I think homes will go up in price, new and used, I think this will be the norm for a long time.”

“Shingles, siding, windows, and finishing thankfully haven’t been affected. If people are planning on buying, I think this is something they should consider sooner rather than later.”

Casavant went on to talk about the dire straits that construction companies were dealing with at the beginning of the COVID lockdown.

“Businesses were hanging on just hoping to survive,” he said.

“This is a huge change.”