US NAHB calls for import tariffs on construction materials to be lifted

Homebuilder confidence in the US was steady in May despite growing concerns over the price and availability of most building materials, prompting calls for import tariffs on them to be lifted.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for newly built single-family homes was unchanged from the month before at 83.0, as expected by economists.

Those supply concerns prompted the business lobby to call for tariffs on imports of construction materials to be lifted.

NAHB chairman, Chuck Fowke, said: "However, first-time and first-generation home buyers are particularly at risk for losing a purchase due to cost hikes associated with increasingly scarce material availability.

"Policymakers must take note and find ways to increase production of domestic building materials, including lumber and steel, and suspend tariffs on imports of construction materials."

For his part, NAHB's chief economist, Robert Dietz, said that the cost of construction materials had jumped at a year-on-year pace of 12% in recent months, with labour and lot availability also a "challenge".

"Home buyers should expect rising prices throughout 2021 as the cost of materials, land and labor continue to rise."