Nine major commodities have experienced an average 62.5% drop in price from their peak levels to their trough levels so far. The accompanying charts show the history of some commodity prices since January 2002, a period of seven years.  This basically encompasses the last business cycle expansion, followed by its recent retreat.

The declines in commodity prices will have a marked downward impact on construction costs. The only questions are how quickly that impact will be felt and to what degree.