>saw a stat saying average new house had $24,000 added cost from higher lumber prices.
LJ, that's an older stat. Most recently (a few weeks ago) economists for the NAHB.org (National Assn of Home-Builders) calculated the extra cost for avg size home to be an added $36,000.... And that stat is already obsolete, because lumber prices jumped an extra 15%-20% since the calculations were done.