Header: Header: Header:

Total housing starts rose 35% year-over-year in the first quarter of this year, according to data from Deloitte. Single-family home construction contributed 500,000 jobs to the economy year-over-year in July, implying a thriving builder market.

But many homebuilders are coming up against a number of problems that are jolting their success beyond recent stock woes.

For instance, a spike in lumber prices is one factor that is restraining home building. Lumber prices have been driven steeply higher over the past year as a result of rising home prices coupled with increasing international lumber demand and global lumber shortages following insect epidemics.

In Northern Europe, many sawmills have expanded their lumber sales outside the Europe market over the past few years, contributing to an increase in non-European exports from 27% of total exports in 2007 to 43% in 2012, reports Wood Resource Quarterly. The biggest changes have been in shipments to Northern Africa, Middle East, Japan, China and the U.S.

Deloitte estimates that global demand for lumber is more than double current supply capabilities.

From HousingWire: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26412-homebuilders-face-high-lumber-prices-and-material-costs