How will the Russia-Ukraine conflict affect the housing sector?

She expressed regret at the conflict while recognizing that it would also have an impact on the housing sector. “That helps the mortgage industry, of course, so I do think that there’s going to be lower interest rates.

“Some people are going to be fearful, so it might put some people on the bench, which would help the housing shortage, because, when there’s unrest, they’re going to want to meet their immediate needs.

“If you have cash in the bank and you have a family, you’re worried about what gas prices are going to go to, what grocery prices are going to go to. So we may see some bench players that are able to take away from that demand, which would then help level out home prices.”

There is, however, less certainty on whether this will have a knock-on effect on other aspects of the housing sector. Hall highlighted the recent decrease in the cost of lumber, saying that it had “flattened out from pre-pandemic time”, although prices have surged throughout this month and were currently sitting at $1,272 per thousand board feet, marking a 227% uptick since August 2021.