It’s true that building costs have gone up over the last year and are continuing to rise. If there’s one thing real estate and construction experts agree on, it’s that no one can predict if and when prices will return to pre-2020 levels.  If you’re a homeowner who’s been waiting for construction costs to fall before starting a remodeling project, take a moment to understand the current market and discover why it may pay off to get started on your project sooner rather than later.  Why are costs going up? There are many factors that contribute to the price of building materials, all of which stem from two fundamental economic concepts: supply and demand. When the pandemic hit last spring, it threw previously efficient national and global supply chains into chaos. Production in the mills and factories that supplied the construction industry with everything from lumber to light fixtures ground to a halt as staff stayed home. Similarly, the logistics companies that delivered products to wholesalers and retailers slowed or stopped their operations. The construction industry has been dealing with the fallout ever since. Add to this the current labor shortage and rising labor costs, and the supply of construction...