Judith Chabot devotes much of her free time to searching for houses built from kits sold by Sears. “It’s kind of like bird-watching,” she said.

The price of lumber has plummeted since early in the pandemic, but other building materials are up 30% from 2019.

Sawmill Timberdoodle Farm has been investing in new equipment and looking into providing services along with its products, its co-owner says.

Lumber is about as cheap as it was before the pandemic, a sign of the slowing housing market. But savings are offset by rising financing costs.

Katrina Amaral of Timberdoodle has seen more interest in custom orders. And the spike in lumber prices has improved her pricing power.

Demand for new U.S. homes is at a record high, and existing homes are old and need repairs.

Lumber prices are surging, along with prices of Chinese-made components that go into building a home.

The price of lumber is at a 2½ year high, driven by a sawmill slowdown and more interest in home projects.

The company says that a better price for lumber is better for business.

Prices for U.S. softwood lumber have jumped since tariffs against Canadian lumber took effect last year.