New US Residential Construction Input Prices Increase 1.2% in January

A closer look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Producer Price Index for January, with additional analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that prices for inputs to new residential construction—excluding capital investment, labor, and imports—were up 1.2% in January.

Year-over-year, the inputs to the New Residential Construction Price Index grew 1.1%. The index can be broken into two components: the goods component increased 2.1% year-over- year, while services decreased 0.3%. While prices of inputs to residential construction for services were down 0.3% over the year, they were up 0.5% from December.

At the individual commodity level, the five commodities with the highest importance for building materials to the New Residential Construction Index are ready-mix concrete, general millwork, paving mixtures/blocks, sheet metal products, and wood office furniture/store fixtures, NAHB said. Compared to last year, ready-mix concrete was up 4.1%, wood office furniture/store fixtures were up 4.7%, general millwork was up 2.4%, paving mixtures/blocks were up 8.6%, and sheet metal products were up 0.4%.