High fuel prices drives up construction costs

The overall cost of replacing a damaged home in the United States increased last year thanks in large part to rising fuel costs, according to Xactware’s Property Report 08.
The report notes the gas hike in the summer of 2008 drove up the cost of materials, labour and equipment.
Petroleum-based goods, including asphalt, vinyl/plastics and nylon carpet were the hardest hit, but nearly every type of building material experienced increased distribution and manufacturing costs related to higher fuel prices.
A primary example is the cost of composition roof shingles (petroleum-based shingles), which jumped 71.4% in 2008 in the U.S., the report notes.
Lumber prices in the United States have steadily decreased since 2005, but whereas 2008 ended with an overall annual decrease of 3.22%, the price rose 2.8% during the second half of the year.
The cost of drywall increased 5.77% in the second half of 2008. But due to decreases in the first half of the year, the overall costs show as down 13.15% from 2007.
There continued to be a steady increase in the use of green building materials in 2008, according to the report.
In 2007 Q1, the number of claims estimates reported to Xactware that related to bamboo or cork wood flooring totaled less than 150,000. By 2008 Q3, that number increased by 267%, to well over 400,000 estimates.