According to the Eye on Housing blog, the cost of building materials have increased quickly. This is the result of the housing recovery that has gained momentum since the start of 2012. Overall producer prices have increased by less than 3%. On the other hand, softwood lumber (30%), OSB (80%) and gypsum (26%) prices are higher than at the start of last year.
Meanwhile, the February core Producer Price Index (PPI), which excludes food and energy, was stable and rose only 0.2% since January. Energy prices rose 3.0% (mainly because of gasoline prices), and food prices declined 0.5%. The overall Producer Price Index, which includes food and energy, rose 0.7%.
