Building, labor costs go through the roof

Oh, hell. More expense for rebuilding. But I guess we could have expected this.

Times Picayune:

"The price of building materials was rising even before Katrina blew through, thanks to a flurry of construction activity in China and the rising cost of oil, a key component in asphalt shingles, PVC pipe and other building materials.

Now the wave of post-Katrina storm repairs is leaving some building materials in even shorter supply and adding another layer of price increases known as 'demand-surge.'

'It's a supply and demand enterprise,' said Charles Marceaux, executive director of the Louisiana State Licensing Board of Contractors, which issues temporary licenses to non-Louisiana contractors. 'What you're seeing is the law of economics in a crisis.'
Commodities like drywall or wallboard that cost $8 a sheet before Katrina are now retailing for closer to $10. Electric wiring, which sold for $33 for a 250-foot roll before the storm, now sells for as much as $68 a roll. And the price of PVC piping has more than doubled from $25 to $54 per 1,000 feet."