In April 2025, building material prices for new residential construction experienced minimal growth, offering a measure of relief to the housing industry. According to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for inputs to residential construction—excluding capital investment, labor, and imports—fell by 0.4% in April, following a revised increase of 0.8% in March. Year-over-year, the index grew by 0.6%, indicating a modest rise in construction input costs.
Breaking down the components, the goods segment, which accounts for approximately 60% of the total index, decreased by 0.2% in April. Within this segment, building material prices dipped by 0.3% from March but were up 2.2% compared to the same month last year. Energy input prices saw a slight monthly increase of 0.1% but remained 17.6% lower than a year ago, marking the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in energy costs.
Service inputs to residential construction experienced their first monthly decline in five months, dropping by 0.6% in April. Despite this monthly decrease, service input prices were 0.6% higher than in April 2024. The service inputs are divided into trade services (around 60%), other services (approximately 29%), and transportation and warehousing services (about 11%). Year-over-year, trade services increased by 0.2%, other services by 1.4%, and transportation and warehousing services by 0.6%.
