Supply and demand. I do know materials are up. Last year, when I received the preliminary estimate for my house, the builder said the material costs were super high, but he expected them to come down soon, however, they did not :). Just too much construction going on right now.

Since this is an addition, I would try to hold off for a little while, and see if the market cools a bit.

Tariffs are having an impact esp. Re lumber prices.

Lack of laborers also drives up costs.

Concrete in Dallas is up 30% compared to 2012. I don’t know how much it was last year but am pretty sure it doesn’t cost 2x now.

Hurricane rebuilds have swallowed up available materials. Still relatively low interest rates have sparked remodeling, and new builds not seen since the boom era of 2001.

The labor shortage is the bigger kicker though. I don’t know of any electrician or plumber locally under 40. All of those kids went to college and have the debt to prove it. The half naked guys framing houses in the sun these days are fewer in number, work just as hard as they ever did, and have less real money in the end to show for it.

Yet the builder is paying higher overall costs for framing crews, because insurance and paperwork costs have become more burdensome. And that builder is likely 60, and ready to retire, but can’t afgord it just yet because of the Depression that wiped out his savings.

He’s charging more now to make up for that, and to replenish his accounts. He’s one of the lucky ones that made it through, and he’s got more work than he can handle. Which is another reason costs have risen. When people are bidding for your services, you’d be stupid to not increase your prices to weed out the lower budget projects. Anyone with an 24 month waiting list isn’t charging enough for the current market conditions.

I signed a contract last December to have a new 4,000 square foot custom home built. At that time, the builder told me that the impact of hurricanes on lumber prices only increased his cost of lumber for my home by $5,000.

Thanks all. I agree that costs should have gone up for all of the reasons mentioned above. But 63%? Over 200% for framing & materials?

Since this is an addition, I would try to hold off for a little while, and see if the market cools a bit.

The influence of tariffs is only starting to be felt, and the price of steel was rising even before that. A lot of suppliers and fabricators have already started hiking their prices because of concerns of how tariffs will affect them. To play devil's advocate, waiting in this market could easily mean paying even more down the road.

Much to do with building is quite regional. opa, have asked your builder the reason for the increase? Or asked other local builders for estimates?

opaone:

You'd better sign now; you haven't seen anything yet.

All the price shoppers took advantage of the trades in the recession. Many took their beatings and went back to college. They've told their children and grandchildren what's it's like to be the first fired and the last hired; the kids aren't lazy or stupid, they want no part of the trades' roller coaster.

Can't blame them a bit.

It's gonna take a lot of cash to convince Bubby to close his chiropractic clinic and pick up a hammer again, but for the right money, he'll do it. It's payback time.

I know it was not possible but we'd have saved at least 35% if not more had we commenced building when we purchased the lot back in 2014. Material and labor costs have sky rocketed, perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit but it's getting harder to find skilled and available subs. To counteract material costs, we need to be smarter with buying raw material which is only possible if your building contract permits it, fighting tooth and nail to bring costs down without compromising quality and we have somewhat succeeded but it's an uphill battle for sure. For a project the size of ours it has a significant impact.

"Many took their beatings and went back to college. They've told their children and grandchildren what's it's like to be the first fired and the last hired; the kids aren't lazy or stupid, they want no part of the trades' roller coaster."

The irony of that way of thinking--and I agree with you that young people are thinking that way--is that it's the trades that have the job security. So many people are going to college to major in accounting or finance or pre-law or whatever, whether they have the inclination and talent for those fields or not, or even whether they like that kind of work. They then get into thousands upon thousands of student loan debt, and go out into the world to compete for jobs with the hundreds of thousands of people with the same idea. How many entry-level finance jobs are there do you think?

And guess what, during the recession, the layoffs for those college-trained jobs were gargantuan. Also, the ageism at large corporates, accounting firms, marketing companies, etc. is the worst. You get to be around your mid-forties, and all the twenty-somethings working with you are looking at you like, "why are you still here?". In the trades you can work without age carrying a stigma. Meanwhile, the trades have so many jobs going unfilled, and people won't have had to incur crippling debt for trade school, and they may like it too.

Yep huge increases. Our framing was 40% over budget. Concrete about same. It’s insane. And frustrating

Our lumber cost went up 10% in just a few months, material costs are just high right now.

"In the trades you can work without age carrying a stigma."

Maybe, but no one wants their daughter to marry us. Everyone thinks their little Suzy deserves a doctor or lawyer. Young men are looking for more than a career and with one look at your hands, her daddy's making sure she's not for you.

Not buying that Joseph, in today's world. Would make a great country music song though. What would Daddy think of his daughter marrying someone with $100k+ in student loan debt? Also, why are you assuming everyone who would opt to go to trade school is male? This Old House TV show has been showcasing apprentices and trade schools for a few seasons now, and women are well-represented.

Joe - I just gotta say, parents have very little choice about who " little Suzy" marries these days. Little Suzy makes up her own mind on that one. A bigger issue is why more parents aren't steering little Suzy towards the trades herself: it pays better than a lot of the service sector jobs women get stuck with.

My brother is a carpenter and didn’t have any trouble finding a wife. Pretty sure her parents had no say in the match either!

friedajune, I agree. And with the rediscovery in recent years of craftsmanship and artisanal work -- whether one is building a house or making beer or cheese -- there is considerably less stigma. I was a liberal arts college graduate from NYC who married a carpenter/farmer 25 years ago, and there's never been any stigma; in fact, most of my college friends have said over the years some version of "I wish I could ditch the office for carpentry or farming." Our sons, who've recently graduated from high school, are going to be starting their first and second years of carpentry at a nearby trade school, and will be third-generation carpenters.

Earlier this year CBC Radio in Canada had an interesting feature on students leaving PhD programs for the trades.

I'd also recommend the following books for anyone interested:

"Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter" by Nina Maclaughlin, a former Classics major who was working as an editor at The Boston Phoenix when she answered a Craigslist ad for a carpenter's assistant.

"Shop Craft as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work" by Matthew Crawford

"Making Things Right: The Simple Philosophy of a Working Life" by Ole Thorstensen

As a reader of any of these books will note, there's a huge difference between doing this sort of work because you see a value in skilled work, craftsmanship, and a job well-done -- and for many too because it's a necessary outlet for creativity, just like music or moviemaking or writing or sculpture -- and working without particular care only for a paycheck.

The HVAC guy my local company sends me regularly is married to a pediatrician. He told me he earns more than she does and has no student loans; she has a ton of them.

I swipe right for guys working in the trades :)

“Maybe, but no one wants their daughter to marry us. Everyone thinks their little Suzy deserves a doctor or lawyer.”

Oh Joseph, my beautiful daughter with a degree from Saint Louis U. Came home from college and fell in love with a big, burly concrete man. He is the salt of the earth and she adores him. I just want her to be happy. Who cares what he does for a living as long as he is a good man, lol.

The topic was construction costs....

Normal residential construction cost increases 1.25 to 1.75 the inflation rate annually since the mid '80s.

Commodities, labor overheads (comp insurance etc), code increases, increases due to expectations, high ceilings...

The exception was the end of 2008 where everything dropped about 20% (lumber actually dropped below harvest cost in order to clear out yard inventories), otherwise I rarely see prices drop but I have seen it plateau and pause.

Some spiking this last year in lumber. A pair of manufacturer increases in drywall, insulation.

Appliances have annual increases, sometimes masked with discounts that disappear.

Materials for appliances are impacted by worldwide demand for commodities as is concrete (Portland cement).

Sometimes an over the phone or online "guestimate" used prior to design will fool a naïve homeowner. A year later, with a more complex design, a few added features, more expensive windows, that "patio" or "garage with a few hundred extra sf" that wasn't included in the "price per foot" adds significantly.

Resale lots are often caused by misinformation.

OP....where are you in the US? It all depends on competition. I've got several degrees but I really wish I had gone in the trades. I love working with my hands. In hindsight I really Sr&&%$&^% up.

I know TOH is trying to get more people in the trades.

I built 9 years ago. Same market. Similar size house but a little smaller. Higher end but with some more value choices.

Framing $60k to $80k - roughly. 2nd house was more complicated and 2x6 instead of 2x4. So really not a horrible price given the lumber issues. Crew not as good though.

Appliances which is a big number is up expected inflation - maybe 25%. Having bought some basic appliances recently that were up very little in same time frame.

It overall is more and sometimes tough to deal with but nothing shocking in the last year since we budgeted. We are not in a hurricane area.