NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Home insurance prices are increasing in conjunction with build material costs according to a spokesperson for Greater Nashville Realtors.
According to the group, insurance costs are up 25-percent. Supply chain limitations and increased demand for homes have driven material prices high. Insurance companies are adjusting their prices to match home building costs in the event a home is destroyed.
"When lumber is on a high, sheetrock is on a high, then your replacement costs for a house are also going to be more expensive than say this time two or three years ago," said Brian Copeland, President of Greater Nashville Realtors.
The cause of the increase started in March of 2020. According to Charles Schneider of the Homebuilders Association of Tennessee, costs for common materials went high once lumber mills slowed operations due to the pandemic.
"Currently, lumber is one of the things that's gone up most dramatically," said Schneider. "We are also facing a shortage of Appliances, windows, doors, they're all delayed."
High demand for homes also contributes to the rise in price for materials. Schneider said mills reduced to 60-percent of their capacity and also face their own supply issues for harvested trees. He said doesn't see an end in sight.
"The input costs of what it takes to make a home are more expensive," he said. "The second thing, especially in the Nashville market, is my goodness the demand is really high right now."
Schneider said many materials are 300-percent more expensive than they were a year and a half ago.
