Do you build or buy a new house this year or put it off?
Posted By RichC on March 18, 2021
Real estate has been on a tear in many markets as the coronavirus has people moving from cities to the suburbs and their own piece of land. In my opinion it is not just COVID19 related, but that fact that 
cities aren’t as secure or as tax friendly to live in, especially on the east and west coasts.
Since I have adult children in exactly the same shoes Brenda and I were decades ago, I also understand the remodeling, house hunting and desire to build your own home. As I recall, it was both a stressful and expensive endeavor when we moved from Hudson to Cincinnati … but paid off over time (something real estate and homes have done in previous generations). As my father-in-law would say about buying more land as he added to his property over the years in western NY, “they’re not making land anymore.”
Smiles and good memories aside, the cost of building (and homes) has definitely risen this past year and with stimulus dollars, the economy recovering and the cheap money in the form of low mortgage interest rates continuing, it will probably continue boost for real estate until the next crisis hits.
Rock-bottom mortgage rates have made owning a house more affordable, while the Fed’s purchasing of mortgage-backed securities has spurred lending. Lower household spending during the lockdown and federal stimulus checks have helped people accumulate down payments. House hunters are bidding up properties alongside legions of investors who are buying and building a growing share of America’s houses and renting them out.
The competition for houses has lifted home prices in almost every part of the country …
Lumber and other wood products took off last summer and have remained aloft. Futures for delivery this month ran up to $1,040 per thousand board feet, nearly triple the typical price this time of year. The story is similar for oriented strand board, used for walls, floors and roofs. Many engineered wood products are in short supply and hard to find.
The National Association of Home Builders says that rising lumber prices have added $24,000 to the cost of building the average single-family home … MORE
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