I had no idea that a 2 by 4 costs $ 5.87. They are selling two dollar boards for six bucks these days! Shazam!

I'm out of touch. I looked over tile prices and the opposite has taken place. Tile used to be ten bucks a square foot, now you can get a great assortment of tile to chose from for a buck a foot...even less.

Is it safe to say that when these prices stay at this level, that a basic home will cost more just because it would cost more to buy the materials and labor to replace it?

Yep. I had started building a duplex in February. Luckily, all of our needs were ordered before the prices went up. Shortages and waits still effected us. Building was supposed to be done by end of July. We finally got occupancy late September.

Smokowna, by the time you finish posting here, the price has gone over $6 a piece. My contractor had to back out a roof job that he quoated.. 1/2" OSB boards used to cost $10-$11 a sheet before the pandemic, now its more than doubled..

Thanks. All the comments make me think.

If people slow new construction, won't that add to the demand for our existing rentals?

All this guessing can be difficult at times. I've not been paying attention, so now to jump in and try to make decisions will be guessing at best.

I am a California Licensed Building Contractor. Before a client tenant's moved out, I gave an estimate for a complete remodel. Window's, Roof, A New Covered Patio, Stucco Coating the exterior, Wood Flooring, New Copper Pipping with water main, complete Remodeled Kitchen and three bathrooms.

On my estimate is stated, "Estimate good for the next 30 days".

Then the United States imposed import tariff's, raising the cost of some construction materials by 40%. Not to mention laborer's wanted a raise or else they'll walk out on a job, including employee's. Insurance rates have also gone up.

Going back to my client, they called to let me know that their tenant will be finally moving out and wanted to schedule a starting date. I asked why they allowed the tenant to stay an additional 10 months? Answer, we are able to bank around $600 a month from each rental payment. So I replied that's good, you have an extra $6,000 to spend on the remodel, but the cost of goods and services have gone way up because of the pandemic and the import tariff's. The client asked how much more will the remodel cost. I said that I'll have to re-price everything again and this second estimate isn't free, I wanted an $250 consultant's fee... They said never mind, they will get someone else to do the job.

My original estimate was priced very competitively. More than $20,000 less than other estimate they got. Now when they asked other contractors for another estimate, they are getting between 40% to 60% higher -- more than double my original estimate.

So after seeing how much others wanted to charge them, they agreed to pay me the $250 consultation fee, so long as if they gave me the job, I will give them a $250 credit! I said, sorry no. That I had already spent 5 hours going over their job and pricing it out for the estimate, that's a loss of $500 and now they want me to do that again for free...

In the mean time I learned that some of the finishing materials are out of stock and going to take a couple of months before the mill will go back into production. I didn't tell them that yet because I'm still waiting for the $250 check....

Just bought 2x4 for a fence 12.48 at Lowe’s

Yup! I'm rehabbing a house now. Just paid $22-23 a sheet for OSB.

But even worse is unavailability of materials for any price.

Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist sometimes has materials free or for sale cheaper. We're not doing much rehabbing right now but are always keeping an eye out for the occasional 2 x 4 or misc wood, even drywall scraps offered. Keeps the repair costs down.

Been working an inn I picked up in a forclosure .... place went thru a hard freeze unheated so lots of gut work.

There are pine tounge n' groove panels EVERYWHERE .... NONE is being thown-away. If I can sweep it clean it's being re-purposed. I am milling molding out of it.

To add to the confusion. As a landowner I have pine timber/chip&saw and pulpwood all pine wood products to make pressure treated lumber and OSB board that I would like to sell if I could get a good price. You would think the wood prices for the landowners in my area would be up - WRONG - same as it was 3 years ago.

This PANDEMIC - What a mess.

Many costs have gone up. Some things are going down because of newer and better materials due to advancements, such as flooring. The newer engineered woods and luxury vinyl products are very good now, and this has driven down (or at least kept increases below inflation) the price of some things like ceramic and real hardwood.

Some LED light fixtures don't have bulbs anymore...if they wear out you replace the entire fixture. But at least you don't need so many light bulbs.

PVC piping is much superior IMO to clay pipe or cast iron (except in terms of noise lol).

PEX and CPVC has made plumbing labor costs go down due to not having to sweat copper.

Truss roofs require much less actual lumber than stick roofs.

Many grouts now have advanced polymers that don't require periodic sealing, saving time and money.

I bought a sawmill this year. I was toying with the idea of changing out the trim in one shack for poplar I would cut.