For the most part, building materials have stayed about the same price for about ten years. Sheetrock has almost tripled in price, but it was so cheap before that it makes very little difference in the overall price of the home.

The cost of labor has gotten ridiculously out of control, not the price of materials. I guess that means that it's a good time to build your own home if you're planning on doing the labor yourself.

It's always been a good time to build if you're doing your own work. A bad economy has little to do with homeowners who gain loads of equity by doing their own work.

So go ahead and build. As a matter of fact, most building products are becoming more reasonable every day. Retailers are having to sell products for less to remain competitive.

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