High lumber prices force builders to delay

Record high lumber prices are leading to delays in housing starts, and as result the share of homes for sale that have not been started reached a record high in January. While that will constrain single-family starts in the short term, sales of homes that have not broken ground have seen strong growth in recent months. That will support building later in the year as overall housing demand falls back. We expect starts will average 1.21m in 2021, up 21% compared to last year.