Just found out lumber prices are down 40% but my clients are still quoting pre-pandemic rates

Ran the numbers on a residential build in Denver yesterday against an estimate from 2022. The framing lumber alone was nearly half the cost now compared to back then, like a 40% drop according to the NAHB's latest pricing report I dug up. Nobody's adjusted their bids though, at least not the three contractors I talked to this week. It got me thinking about how many projects are getting padded with old pricing without anybody calling it out. I'm a designer not a builder, but I see the bills when they come across my desk for the marketing materials I layout. Are you guys seeing actual pass-through on these material decreases, or is everyone just pocketing the margin and hoping nobody notices?

2 comments

2 Comments

briannguyen8d ago

i get what you're saying @christophermurray but i kinda see it different. lumber spot prices dropped hard but contractors locked into supply agreements or buying from yards that didn't move their prices yet. my buddy got a bid last week and the lumber line item was still using 2022 numbers cause the local supplier still charges that. so it's not always the contractor padding it, sometimes the whole chain just hasn't caught up.

christophermurray8d ago

40% drop in framing lumber and nobody's adjusted their bids? That's wild, man. I'd be pretty ticked if I was a client paying 2022 prices for materials that are way cheaper now. The NAHB report is pretty clear, so those contractors are either not paying attention or they're hoping nobody checks the numbers. I guess it's easy to pad when people don't dig into the line items like you do. But still, that's a massive gap to just pocket without saying anything.