The cost of building material has skyrocketed to the point where some Fredericton-area contractors are now putting construction projects such as houses and apartment buildings on hold. 

Others have started buildings but can’t afford to finish them. 

Jack Youssef, who owns the property development company Javo Properties, said he’s had to walk away from a project on Fredericton’s north side “indefinitely.” 

“We got the foundation in,” said Youssef. “We were all ready, prepped and ready to go. We had our anchor tenant with our letter-of-intent signed. Our pricing was all locked in.

“When we went to start framing, our lumber costs alone went from about $27,000 to about $87,000.” 

On the city’s south side, another contractor is powering through the record high prices of lumber and other building supplies in order to finish.

Four years ago, Youssef Brothers Construction built a 24-unit apartment complex in Fredericton. He’s now building a nearly identical one in the city’s uptown.

“That development is about $700,000 more than the same development four years ago,” said Louie Youssef. “It’s crazy. But it’s not just lumber. Lumber is probably $100,000 extra of that cost.”

He said he’ll have to make that money back by increasing rent once the project is finished. 

Those rapidly increasing costs led two dozen contractors and politicians to meet Wednesday night in Maugerville, northeast of Fredericton, to try to come to terms with the almost daily increase in building costs.

Compounding the issue is the influx of people moving to New Brunswick from outside the province and a red-hot real-estate market. 

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