Lumber is a commodity. Commodities are hedged by investors such that lot prices will go up or down by a certain date (see the film Trading Places). My guess is the value to hold is better than the revenue to sell so the squeeze is causing retail prices to spike dramatically. The BofA projected a near term bout of hyper inflation (double digit price increases due to fiat $ printing known as monetary easing). I suspect other commodity prices are likewise reflecting this market uncertainty and the flushing of cash into the system. It is a process that destroyed Germany, Italy several times and most South American countries one or more times. Venezuela is the most recent victim of Marxist Monetary Theology that has never worked in history except to destroy the foundations of a nation.