Construction Claims – November 2024

Defined Regions

CoreLogic curates this monthly bulletin of regional construction cost insights, which are reflected in the CoreLogic Claims Pricing Database. We combine the current month’s pricing data with four common loss scenarios to create models illustrating market impacts that are applied across nine regions and compared month over month and year over year.  

Our experts provide detailed analyses of changes and trends to provide additional insight into key drivers. View our Construction Database Pricing Methodology white paper to gain additional insight into how we populate cost values. 

Pricing Insights

The CoreLogic Pricing Analysis and Delivery Team continues to research labor costs and industry best practices for all construction categories within the Claims Construction Cost Database. To standardize labor trade assignments in the CoreLogic Pricing Database, CoreLogic will continue implementing incremental monthly changes throughout 2024 for each respective trade category.

In the November 2024 Claims Construction Cost Database release, we standardized labor trades in the Structure Cleaning category. In December, we will complete the final updates for the following categories: Labor Only, Miscellaneous, and Pools/Hot Tubs.

For November, we will continue refreshing line item and action descriptions in the Acoustical Treatments, Moisture Protection, and Fireplace categories. In December, we plan to refresh the Plumbing category and add a new Aluminum-Clad Wood Windows sub-category to expand the existing Windows category.

The realignment process will proceed monthly, with all categories targeted for completion in Q1 2025. In addition, we are implementing material pricing increases for drywall due to manufacturer price hikes scheduled for this quarter.

In response to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, we are implementing pricing adjustments across several states in the South, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. We have increased monitoring in these areas and will continue making adjustments as market conditions change.

Lastly, we have updated the Claims Construction Pricing Database Methodology white paper this month to reflect additional considerations.

Fire/Lightning (Large Loss) Insights: 12-Month Trend

• The fire/lightning loss scenario increased by an average of 12.5% compared with November 2023, primarily due to higher drywall and general labor costs. Costs rose by 0.3% month over month, driven mainly by an annual drywall price adjustment that took effect in October, which included a 20% increase in drywall costs along with modest price increases in other labor and materials.
• Overall, this summary highlights key changes in material and labor costs over the past year, with the October drywall adjustment being the main driver of the monthly increase.

Wind/Hail (Exterior/Roof) Insights: 12-Month Trend

• This loss scenario increased by 23.18% compared with November 2023, driven mainly by a 31.42% rise in siding labor and a 12.60% rise in roofing labor. Material price increases also contributed, with fencing up 10.3%, siding up 3.3%, and roofing up 2.7%
• The month-over-month increase of 0.26% reflects a more moderate growth pace than the past year, with siding and roofing materials and labor cost increases averaging around 3.7% during this period.

Water (Interior Reconstruction) Insights: 12-Month Trend

Moderately complex losses are modeled for the interior water loss scenario using the bathroom as the origin of loss where a combination of replacement and repair of common household finishes is required.

• Over the past year, we observed consistent increases in key labor and material costs. Flooring labor rose from 20.4% to 21.2%, with monthly growth accelerating from 0.2% last year to 0.5% this month. Cleaning labor followed a similar trend, increasing from 15.5% to 16%, with monthly growth moving up slightly from 0.3% to 0.4%. Insulation costs climbed from 5.3% to 7.6%, largely due to a stronger focus on energy efficiency.
• On the materials side, we noted some variations as well. Drywall costs increased by 1.2% month over month, while floor covering saw a slight decrease of 0.3%. Altogether, these shifts highlight how demand, labor rates, and material pricing are impacting reconstruction costs.

Water Mitigation (Drying) Insights: 12-Month Trend

• Water mitigation costs increased by 15.81% over the past year, showing noticeable regional variations.
  • The Midwest and Southwest regions recorded the largest month-over-month increases, of 4.1% and 3.7%, respectively. These were likely influenced by seasonal demand and changing labor costs.
  • The Northeast and Northwest regions rose by 3.7% and 3.3%, respectively. This is possibly due to colder weather causing more water-related issues.
  • The Gulf Coast and Central regions saw smaller increases of 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively. These price increases were potentially stabilized by established infrastructure.
  • The West Central and East Coast regions saw the smallest changes, with 2.8% and 1.8% increases respectively. This indicates steadier demand for water mitigation.
• Water mitigation labor costs climbed by 14.02% over the past year, with the West Central region experiencing the largest increases. In contrast, the Gulf Coast saw the smallest rise, showing more stability in labor costs for water mitigation services in that area.