Homewyse Improvements and Enhancements - August 2024

Labor Rate and Material Cost Updates

The cost estimating calculators at Homewyse.com now reflect the following changes:

• Labor Rate Change United States Bureau of Labor reports wages for home construction,remodeling and maintenance professionals have continued to increase somewhat in the past 6 months, but the level of change in the prior quarter has been less than 1% for all trade labor tracked by Homewyse. The volatility of the labor market continues however and can be noted by "adjustments" made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to prior period estimates, ranging back as far as 2023.
• Material Unit Cost Changes Overall, material prices continued to stalilize, with quarter over quarter changes decreasing slightly less than 1.5%. Again, the most notable drop in pricing is for lumber which has fallen by nearly 8% for select framing material. Electrical materials and products have fallen approximately 3% in the most recent quarter.