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Article: Pennsylvania Homebuilders Struggle to Keep Up with Rising Supply Prices.
- Article from:
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA)
- Article date:
- April 23, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Philadelphia Inquirer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Harold Brubaker
Apr. 23--Lehigh Valley homebuilder Frank A. Alexander thought raising his prices 4 percent would get him through the year.
But by March 31, the cost of nails, lumber, insulation and other building materials he uses had gone up so much that he added another 4 percent this month.
"All the manufacturers seem to be jumping on the bandwagon and raising their prices," said Alexander, whose custom houses, including one going up in Harleysville, sell for $400,000 to $1 million.
There's been "a huge run-up since the beginning of the year," said Seth Shapiro, vice president of operations at Westrum Development Co. of Fort ...