Lumber is the main material used to build most homes, and prices have soared to historic highs.

Construction on a new home has reached an average of about 36,000 dollars more than last year just because of lumber costs according to estimates from the National Association of Home Builders.

Local home building companies like Purpera and Son's say they've never seen such a scarce lack of materials.

"It's crazy, and we're the busiest we've ever been," said store manager Tenille Duplessis. "We've seen a steady increase since the pandemic hit and no end in sight from what we're hearing. It's going to keep going up."

Industry experts say it's a supply and demand problem due to lumber mills shutting down during the pandemic, and now they're struggling to keep up with new construction needs.

"It's not only pricing but supply. We're having trouble getting stuff now," said Duplessis.

While the price of lumber has been tough for people to track, Duplessis says the next few months aren't looking good.

"It'll never go back to back to the prices they were before, they may drop but I don't think they'll be back to where they were before," Duplessis said.

Many home builders expect things to eventually smooth out once more people return to work from the pandemic closures.