LITTLE ROCK – The prices of two-by-fours used to frame new homes have risen sharply in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and that will boost the cost of building new homes or making renovations to older ones.

But building experts say prices should drop back down to more normal levels within a few weeks or months.

“Lumber is just like any other commodity,” said Brent Hanby, chief financial officer of the Springdale-based building materials company National Home Centers Inc. “The prices change every second almost, and it’s been very volatile the last two weeks.”

Hanby said some of the increase stems from panic buying and hoarding, but many people are concerned about shortages of lumber and plywood over the next several months as rebuilding efforts get under way in the Gulf Coast area.

Byron Holmes, a Little Rock home builder, said the price increases will probably be passed on to the person for whom the house is being built. Until prices settle down, Holmes said, builders are likely to make lumber an allowance item in their construction contracts – in other words, “what I pay for it is what you, the customer, pay for it.”

National Home Centers tracks the price of framing materials for a 2,000-square-foot, slab-foundation house in central and northwest Arkansas. In the past two weeks, those prices have jumped more than 25 percent, from about $12,000 to more than $15,000.

At the end of last week, the company estimated the framing cost per square foot in central Arkansas was $7.59, up from $6 two weeks earlier. The calculations include all studs, roof trusses, floor joists and wafer board used for floors, walls and roofs.

Richard Harp, vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Little Rock, blamed hoarding for the jump.

“If you’ll just act normal, things will be just fine,” Harp said. “Right now, there is no real demand in Louisiana.”

Harp said sawmills and panel mills serving the Gulf Coast area will have ample lead time to build up an inventory of supplies to be used in rebuilding efforts.