NAHB’s (National Association of Home Builders) Builder Sentiment measures how builders view the housing market in terms of how much demand there currently is for new homes and how much demand is expected in the future. A score above 50 indicates a favorable outlook for home sales. In April and May 2021, builders’ confidence remained constant at 83, despite the persistent price problem and shortage of construction materials. Builders will need to build 1.1 million to 1.2 million single-family homes to meet long-term demand.

The NAHB, reporting based on data from Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite, which measures prices based on high volume producing regions in the U.S. and Canada, estimates that lumber prices rose by nearly 250% since 2020. This is one of the reasons for the affordability problem.