Bloomberg tells MHProNews of all the 24 commodities tracked by Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index, lumber features rose to a six-year high, having surged 37 percent this year. Following the collapse of the housing market in the U.S., a glut of wood drove prices down, but they have more than doubled since 2009. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange today lumber futures for Jan. delivery hit $360.80 per 1,000 board feet, the highest point since April 2006, before settling at $358.20. Hakan Ekstrom, of Wood Resource International LLC in Seattle says as the U.S. economy improves, the price of homes will rise, which will offset the increased price of lumber. Noting if people believe prices will be higher next year, they should consider buying sooner rather than later. “Interest rates might not go much lower than where we are, so the earlier they can buy a house the better, because it’s not going to get much better from a buyer’s perspective,” says Ekstrom.
