By David Logan | Eye on Housing
The price of OSB fell 1.0% in October, in contrast to prices paid for softwood lumber (+2.3%), gypsum products (+0.3%) and ready-mix concrete (+0.2%), which all increased. In addition, the price index measuring inputs to residential construction rose 0.1% in October, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The drop in OSB prices followed a three-month period in which prices increased 7.1% over the prior three months. While the monthly decline is welcome news, OSB prices remain 12.9% and 37.0% higher than they were at the beginning of 2017 and 2016, respectively.