November floods pump up B.C. construction inflation

By Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun
January 10, 2022
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Last November’s floods in southwestern B.C. added to inflation in the construction sector that is approaching double digits for many builders. Damaged highways and railways introduced transportation bottlenecks for B.C. lumber producers and added competition for gravel supplies already in high demand for a booming building market. And that was on top of supply chains that were already strained by the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction costs on wood-frame detached homes in particular “are taking a big hit” because lumber is such a big component of their price, said Ran Rapp, CEO of the Homebuilders Association of Vancouver. Rapp’s association estimated a typical detached house costs about $30,000 more to build now than it did a year ago. “At the same time, almost every other material has been subjected to some kind of increase,” Rapp said. 

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