Is Now a Good Time to Build?
We get asked all the time - "Is now a good time to build?"
Our answer is always the same. Whether you are looking to build a house, garage, storage units or a commercial building, the best time to build is when you need a new building.
With the current high price of steel and lumber, it is no surprise that the cost of a building has gone up. Walters Buildings has been serving the Midwest for over 60 years. Even with all of that experience, we cannot predict building material prices, future mortgage rates or the demand for storage units.
What we can say with certainty, is that everyone who built a Walters Buildings in the past 5 years is glad they did. You don't want to get caught paying rent for years hoping that the building material prices will go down in the future.
In the United States, we had enjoyed relatively stable lumber prices for the past 5+ years. The housing market had been robust but consistent, and the mills had been able to steadily meet the demands of the consumers.
When the Covid 19 pandemic started in March of 2020, the lumber market quickly dropped as building activity ceased. However, as more people stayed at home, the building market quickly soared to unforeseen levels and lumber prices have soared with it.
The demand for lumber continues to outpace the lumber mills ability to produce lumber. We expect lumber prices to stay high for the foreseeable future.
Much like the lumber market, the steel market in the United States experienced relatively stable prices for the past 5 years. However, the demand for steel has also soared since the Covid-19 pandemic.
We have seen our raw material costs increase over 100% since early 2020. This trend shows no sign of slowing down as the demand for steel is widespread throughout all industries.
We expect steel prices to remain high.
At Walters Buildings, we take a lot of pride in turning your dream building into a reality. The last two years have created a lot of uncertainty with a pandemic, supply chain disruptions and inflation. While it may be tempting to wait and hope that prices will come down, the latest inflation reports showed priced increased 7.9% in the past year. If you wait another year to build, that dream building of your might do the same and go from $50,000 to $53,950.
The best time to buy is when you need a building. You'll never regret purchasing a quality building that you and your family will enjoy for generations to come.