CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Lumber prices seem to be skyrocketing during the pandemic, according to Rosendo Alaniz, Manager at Armstrong Lumber. A piece of plywood normally used for the roofs of homes went from $7 or $8 to about $50 a piece.
"For now we see it going up till who knows," Alaniz said. " We have never had this, the freight is higher than they have ever paid to get it down to us."
He said the pandemic is one of the reasons to blame for the high prices. He said either several workers at mills became sick or the capacity was reduced which reduced production. Another reason for the price spike is the big freeze in February; one of the roofs at one of the mills collapsed, causing other mills across the state to ramp up production.
"Every time we order, every week the lumber is going up, we cannot keep out quotes. We used to keep our quotes for 30 days. Now we keep our quotes for a week or 10 days because we don't know what we're gonna pay next week. “
Jed Ransom, a realtor with Remax, told KRIS 6 News that the supply and demand are also increasing the price of homes.
“I think prices are gonna increase, I think they are gonna go above asking price like they do in the other major cities," Ransom said. "I see houses that are going 5 to 10 thousand dollars over asking price. "
A year ago a median-priced home was going for about $204,000 dollars, now it is at $245, 000 dollars.
The price of lumber is expected to increase before it decreases.
