Despite implications that arose from a July 2004 National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) survey, cement shortages or tight supply conditions — and the resulting price hike of concrete — represent only a small portion of overall material cost increases for single-family homes. The NAHB survey estimated that the cost of materials per new home had gone up $5,000 to $7,000, as compared to 2003. But according to PCA Chief Economist Ed Sullivan, speaking recently at both the 2005 International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla., and World of Concrete 2005 in Las Vegas, concrete price increases account for only $283, or 5.7%, of the estimated increase range.

During the time period of the NAHB study, concrete prices had increased 4.6%. Other building materials — including lumber, steel, gypsum, copper tubing and plastic plumbing products — all recorded double-digit annual increases compared to year-ago levels. In fact, lumber price escalation accounts for more than half of NAHB's estimated building material cost increase. Sullivan adds that concrete costs represent slightly more than 4% of estimated overall home construction costs and less than 2.5% of the $274,000 price of a new home as gauged by the Bureau of Census.