Lumber prices starting to come back down to earth

HALIFAX -

Lumber prices that took off during the height of the pandemic are finally starting to come down.

Although demand is still strong, an increase in production is allowing the supply to catch up, but not before some paid up to three times more to complete home renovation projects.

Randy Bourque just completed a steel-covered roof to cover part of his backyard deck

"I’ve been in construction for quite a while and when I estimated that it would cost, it was a good 50 per cent more than what I had anticipated," says Bourque of Yarmouth.

That means the price to keep Bourque and his family cool went from about $500 to just over $1,000.

During the height of the pandemic, supply stalled as prices skyrocketed. Those in the lumber business were actually worried prices would climb too high, resulting in a slow-down in construction.

Robin Wilber runs a lumberyard in Elmsdale, N.S. He says as lumber production is now able to ramp up, prices are now starting to come down.

"It’s coming down a lot, within the last month it’s dropped about 40 per cent," Wilber says.

That’s good news for Bourque, he has other projects in mind, but says he's going to hold off until the price of lumber comes down a bit more.