If you’re renovating your home, you may have noticed that the cost has gone up a whole lot. That’s because building materials are so much more expensive. The price of copper pipe & tubing is up 71 percent; drywall is up 24 percent; asphalt singles – 20 percent; concrete – 12 percent. The only items that have gone down in price are lumber and plywood. The L.A. Times reports that people are changing the materials they use because they find out the price and they’re shocked. The good news is that the boom of home improvements is slowing down. It just takes a while for the drop in material prices to catch up. Next year may be the year of change. If you want to do an addition to your home in 2007, contractors will be hungrier for work and will offer you better prices. In addition, builder stock prices are under assault and building activity is likely going to slow, as well. That, too, will affect what has been a shortage in building supplies. With more supplies in the market, prices are likely to go down.