Covid DIY-ers and millennial homebuyers are ‘fuelling the price of lumber in the US’

With the pandemic driving many out of expensive cities, and a previously prohibited new generation hitting the housing market, prices are more than doubling, writes Alice Hutton

The US has been hit by a lumber shortage during the pandemic which could be partially fuelled by a house building and DIY boom. Pictured is the lumber department at Lowe’s. (Getty)

A chronic shortage of lumber in the US that has sent prices rocketing may have been worsened by a massive DIY rush during the pandemic and an influx of millennial homebuyers to the market, reports have claimed.

When Covid-19 caused a global shutdown last year, millions of people were confronted with the reality of spending close to 24-hours a day in their home.

And some of them didn’t like what they saw.