EUGENE, Ore. — Lumber prices are dropping. Specifically, in the case of framing lumber, prices have dipped more than 20%, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

This price dip was confirmed by an industry newsletter, Random Lengths, which recently reported that the composite price of framing lumber has dropped to $272 per 1.000 board feet from $358 last month.

Sources link the drop in lumber prices to the end of the government's tax incentive for first-time home buyers, which ended earlier this year. To that point, new starts for residential construction also dipped in May to their lowest level of the year.