Although ENR’s indexes measure the costs of non-residential buildings, the housing market recovery has had a major impact on index movement. The ENR 20-city average price for 2x4 lumber is up 10.4% this year, following last year’s 12.2% hike. Structural steel and cement prices in the cost indexes posted slight increases, 3.3% and 1.1%, respectively. Labor costs also experienced a modest gain. As a result, the ENR Building Cost Index is up 2.6% for the year, after rising 3.9% last year, while the Construction Cost Index is 2.7% higher, following a 2.7% annual increase a year ago.
ENR began reporting materials prices and wages systematically in 1909, but it did not establish the CCI until 1921. The index was designed as a general-purpose tool to chart basic cost trends. Today, it remains as a weighted aggregate index of the prices of a constant quantity of structural steel, portland cement, lumber and common labor. This package of goods was valued at $100, using 1913 prices.