GOP Lawmakers Hear Firsthand Account on How Supply-Chain Woes Delay Home Construction

Idaho custom home builder Steve Martinez provided a firsthand account to Republican lawmakers today on how building material supply-chain challenges are delaying home projects and raising housing costs during testimony before a House Natural Resources Republican forum examining America’s supply-chain crisis.

“Over the last two years, our industry has been plagued by labor and material shortages and the last six months have gotten even worse on the supply side,” Martinez said while participating in a House Natural Resources Republican forum examining America’s supply-chain crisis.

Citing the effects on his own business, Martinez told GOP lawmakers that his company has “several homes sitting with nothing going on in them, accruing interest and deteriorating in quality, because we cannot get the materials needed to complete the home.”

“The domino effect this is having on our industry is costing the builder, subs, suppliers and home owners thousands of dollars that no one had planned on,” he added. “We are having to sit down with clients and break this news to them that their dream home is delayed, in some instances up to a year, and is costing them tens of thousands of dollars. This isn’t money that is going into upgrades or amenities; rather it is to build the exact same house they thought they were getting when we signed contract. This is killing affordability for home owners and killing jobs across the country.”

NAHB continues to aggressively engage with the Biden administration and Congress to push the administration to identify the causes for high lumber and building material prices and supply constraints, and to seek immediate remedies that will increase production.