Lumber prices: tiny weekly rise
Madison’s Lumber Prices Index for the week ending April 10 landed at US$523 per mfbm — only US$1 higher than the prior week but about 4% above where it was a month ago, which matters if you’re budgeting a remodel. That flat week‑over‑week move suggests short‑term stability, yet the month‑over‑month increase still nudges project cost estimates upward for DIYers and contractors. (madisonsreport.com).
Lumber barely moved this week, with Madison’s Lumber Prices Index at US$523 per thousand board feet for the week ending April 10, up just US$1 from April 3. One month earlier, the same index was US$501 on March 13, so the market is still running higher than it looked in mid-March. (madisonsreport.com) (redbooklumberdata.com) That tiny weekly change matters because lumber buyers watch for momentum, not just price. A US$1 move after a US$4 gain the prior week suggests the spring run-up may be pausing rather than accelerating. (madisonsreport.com 1) (madisonsreport.com 2) The unit here is “thousand board feet,” which is a bulk lumber measure used by mills and wholesalers. One board foot is a piece of wood 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long, so the index is tracking the wholesale cost of a very large pile of framing lumber, not the sticker price of one board at a home center. (parkervillewoodproducts.com) (madisonsreport.com) Madison’s index is not a single two-by-four price. Madison says it is a weighted average built from a mix of species and dimensions, which makes it closer to a basket of common construction lumber than to one shelf item in one city. (madisonsreport.com) That is why a flat week in the index can still leave contractors revising estimates. If a builder priced a job when the index was US$491 on March 6 and buys closer to US$523 now, the wholesale benchmark is about US$32 higher in five weeks. (madisonsreport.com 1) (madisonsreport.com 2) The background is that prices had already been climbing through March before this week’s pause. Madison’s index went from US$501 on March 13 to US$513 on March 20, then to US$518 on March 27, then US$522 on April 3, before landing at US$523 on April 10. (redbooklumberdata.com) (madisonsreport.com 1) (madisonsreport.com 2) (madisonsreport.com 3) Trade coverage around the same March and early-April period described weak inventories in the supply chain and firmer asking prices from some mills. That helps explain how prices can keep drifting upward even when weekly changes look small on paper. (woodbusiness.ca) (hbsdealer.com) For homeowners, the effect usually shows up in line items like studs, joists, roof trusses, and subfloor packages rather than in one dramatic receipt. For contractors, a market that is steady at a higher level often means fewer emergency reprices than a spike, but not a return to March budgets. (madisonsreport.com) (madisonsreport.com) So the signal from this week is narrow but useful: the spring climb did not reverse, yet it also did not speed up. As of Friday, April 10, the North American framing-lumber benchmark Madison tracks is acting more like a market catching its breath than one breaking lower. (madisonsreport.com)
