QUINCY, IL. (WGEM) — For months now many people have held off on home improvement projects due to high lumber prices.
Now local stores are seeing prices drop.
Pro Build managers in Quincy said in the last few weeks, more people have been coming in to get supplies for home improvement projects.
Tim Genenbacher said for months families were coming in to check prices and hold off on buying.
Now that the prices are down, they are starting to see a shift in buying habits.
“We’ve had a lot of people say we’ve had this project in mind for a year but when prices went up we just couldn’t justify doing it and now they’re feeling like hey we can afford to do it and they are definitely coming in to get stuff for their little projects and what have you,” said Tim Genenbacher, Pro Build Supply.
Genenbacher said at the height of the pandemic, pieces of lumber that would normally sell for around $3, went up to as high as $11 or $12.
Little price differences still drive up the cost of a project.
“It would probably be maybe $10,000 more for an average house versus the $40,000 because we’re just not down to that pre-COVID pricing. But the treated lumber has really really come down.”
Genenbacher said because so many factors with the pandemic are still changing, it’s hard to know when or if prices will go back down.
