Living is much more expensive than two years ago

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COVID-19 has changed the landscape. And in doing so, he affected the most basic needs – food, shelter, fuel.

This made certain items more difficult to obtain and certainly more expensive. Anyone who’s bought a piece of plywood lately must be stunned by what now costs $ 50 a piece when it was $ 8-9 a board two years ago. And that is if you can find plywood.

From groceries to housing, living in the tri-state area is much more expensive than it was two years ago.

And while demand isn’t what it was during a pandemic peak, some grocery store prices have seen price hikes since 2019: A carton of branded eggs will cost an additional 70 cents in 2021.

Local business owners and real estate agents say the pandemic is to blame.

A new meaning for the word house

Since COVID-19, there has been a gravitational pull to personal space, privacy, clean air and backyards, said Jennifer DiConstanzo of Green Team Realty. Because people were confined to their homes, the word house now has a whole new meaning.

If you own your own property, you have the flexibility to customize your space, she added. The townspeople abandoned their apartments and made Orange County their permanent home.

DiConstanzo estimates that the average price for a three-bedroom home in Orange County is around $ 310,000 today, a 27% increase from 2019.

An influx of new buyers largely from New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area has moved to the suburbs throughout 2020, leading to bidding wars over the limited number of homes and land available.

Seven days will sell a house

Weichert Realtors Dawn Corbo has seen a similar trend.

Overall in Sussex County we have seen an increase in buyers, she said. Due to the lack of inventory here, the selling prices have increased significantly. It takes seven days for a house to sell on the market.

Corbo, who has been selling real estate in Sussex County for 29 years, estimates the trend will continue until fall 2021. Today, it costs around $ 370,000 for a three-bedroom home in the Sussex County, an increase of $ 70,000 from before the pandemic. Numbers.

The cost of construction

And those who plan to build instead of buying don’t get any discounts. A piece of plywood that cost around $ 8 in 2019 now costs $ 50 today.

While it may appear that the increase in the number of families buying property in the city is what has caused lumber prices to skyrocket, Steve Visaggio of AB&S Home Improvements said the increase is due to problems with supply chain linked to the pandemic.

Most of our wood comes from overseas and Canada, Visaggio said. When the pandemic hit, most sawmills closed, causing companies to inflate the price for a bigger profit.

An order that previously took two weeks to deliver now takes around fourteen.

I am understaffed and the planning has been frustrating because it takes so long for the materials to get here, he said. Although it was frustrating, I understand that everyone is going through it too. My clients have been very patient, for which I am grateful.

Yes, toilet paper prices are still on the rise

Some basic household items, like laundry detergents and diapers, have remained stable over the past two years. But others – including fresh meat, produce and, yes, toilet paper – have seen their prices rise.

Junior Dabashi of Key Foods in Milford, Pa., Said suppliers have increased their prices for several reasons: they are understaffed, the rising cost of fuel makes shipping more expensive, and demand increased.

Since people were at home, they bought more and cooked more at home, said DaBashi. As demand increased, prices also increased. Things haven’t returned to 100% normal, but we are getting there.

Sources: zumper.com, realtor.com, AAA, NYSERDA, flyers from local grocery stores, and interviews with local realtors and contractors.

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