The elevated price of softwood lumber, a major talking point during much of the pandemic, appears to have peaked in early May at more than $1,700 per thousand board feet. As of June 23, the price , down about 49% in less than two months.听

Source: MarketWatch

That鈥檚 still an unusually lofty price by historic standards鈥攑rices remain almost twice as high as in February 2020鈥攂ut the trend is very much in the right direction. , other builders have delayed lumber purchases in anticipation of lower prices, and sawmill operators have been adding shifts and expanding capacity, all of which puts downward pressure on prices.

, which have nearly doubled since the pandemic began, as and the . Further construction materials price dips are likely, particularly for metals like aluminum and zinc. , with demand elevated and , have leveled off since late May but remain nearly three times higher than pre-pandemic levels.

鈥淭he cure for high prices is high prices, which decrease quantity demanded in the short-term, increase quantity supplied and incentivize suppliers and sellers to bolster capacity in the long-term,鈥� said 老牛影视chief economist Anirban Basu. 鈥淎lready there is evidence that output is on the rise, which has helped to trigger the price moderation process. That said, input prices will remain elevated by historical standards for at least several more months.鈥�