Description: The nesting phenomenon – people renovating homes during the Covid-19 pandemic – has bumped up both lumber demand and prices. And, of course, this has driven up the cost of building a new home. The cost of thousand board feet of 2×4 has increased from $550 pre-Covid to over $1,400 this spring. Ouch!

Date:  April 2, 2021

Source:  cbc.ca

 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/lumber-prices-covid-19-cost-of-housing-1.5973416

Discussion points:

1) Do you know anyone who is building a home this summer? Have their plans been impacted by the rising prices of construction materials?

2) Can you think of any strategies builders might use to help control costs?

3) Chapter 10 of Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making, deals with the subject of property taxes on pages 10-5 and 10-6. Considering this story on building costs, as well as other things going on in the Canadian economy in this last year, what are the likely effects of Covid-19 on property taxes?