NAHB Monthly Update
H
ere are the latest news and developments affecting the housing industry. The Senior Officers’ travel schedule is also provided for your reference, followed by NAHB’s positions on key policies.
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Note: This information is for use by NAHB members and HBA staff to explain our priorities and should not be widely circulated outside of the NAHB Federation.
A Year-Long Effort
Prepared by NAHB Communications July 2, 2021.
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New For June • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Commerce secretary tells NAHB leadership administration is committed to tackling material costs issues. NAHB chair credits grassroots for congressional spotlight on lumber. Building costs skyrocket over the past 12 months. Record number of builders report material shortages. Commerce Secretary pledges to make lumber a priority. A win for NAHB on OSHA’s temporary emergency standard. EPA seeks to revise definition of waters of the United States. CDC extends eviction moratorium through July 31 Housing prices likely to remain high as supply stays low. HUD to reinstate Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. Podcast: NAHB chief economist’s midyear report and forecast. Single-family starts steady in May. Rising material challenges, declining builder sentiment. New home sales drop in May as housing costs continue to rise.
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Lumber and other Building Material Prices
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NAHB’s tireless efforts to encourage the White House to convene a home building materials supply chain summit has borne fruit. I am pleased to report that the White House has heard our concerns and recognizes the importance of finding solutions that will end production bottlenecks that have resulted in soaring material prices. At NAHB’s urging, a White House summit on building materials was held on July 16 with a diverse group of stakeholders. Representing the administration were Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese. NAHB stressed at this meeting that it is imperative that lumber mill
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producers boost production in order to meet rising demand. Home inventories are lean and the U.S. housing market is more than 1 million single-family homes short of what is needed to meet the country’s demand. The summit was an important step forward. All the participants recognized the need to resolve supply chain bottlenecks and the issue of rising material prices and supply shortages has been brought front and center to the Biden administration.
I want to stress that this White House summit on building materials was the culmination of a year-long effort where NAHB has been in the forefront in educating the public and policymakers about how rising lumber and building material prices are harming home builders, home buyers and the economic recovery. NAHB leaders have appeared on CBS This Morning and numerous times on Fox Business News. We have also been featured in Bloomberg, CNN Business, Fortune, CNBC and scores of local media outlets across the nation calling for action to address rising prices and supply shortages. Overall on the media front, we have earned more than $50 million in media coverage, with over 11,000 stories featured in national and local news. Effectively, we got $50 million in national publicity for free rather than having to pay for it. In the policy arena, we have reached out to virtually every member of Congress on this issue and held talks with top White House officials and Commerce Secretary Raimondo. Thanks to the outreach of NAHB and our grassroots membership, several House and Senate leaders have openly raised the issue of soaring lumber prices, housing affordability and tariffs with Secretary Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. In fact, Secretary Raimondo addressed the NAHB Leadership Council on June 28 and said that “supply chain disruptions are at the top of my mind.” And we are also seeking swift action on the trade front. Tariffs on Canadian lumber shipments into the U.S. are exacerbating price volatility and increasing housing costs.
Not Out of the Woods Yet • •
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On the lumber price front, many of you may have seen media reports about the recent sharp drop in prices. While this is good news, the lumber crisis is far from over. Since April 2020, the price of softwood plywood has increased by more than 200 percent and the price of oriented strand board (OSB) has skyrocketed by nearly 500 percent. The bottom line is that the OSB-led changes in softwood lumber
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July 2021
