When people discuss the cost of real estate, they might point to lack of inventory, high financing rates, and the desire for owners and investors to make their projects pan out fiscally. But most people from the outside don't see how big one component, the cost of building, has become.

The Producer Price Index for October was up 0.2%, seasonally adjusted, and final demand prices were up 0.2% in September. "On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand advanced 8.0 percent for the 12 months ended in October," the Bureau for Labor Statistics wrote.

That would seem like good news at first blush. "Producer prices rose a slower-than-expected 0.2% in October, and September's increase was revised lower," Oxford Economics wrote in a note. "Core producer prices also rose 0.2% last month, slightly slower than the downwardly revised 0.3% increase from September. The more moderate pace of gains cooled the inflation rate for the fourth straight month; headline inflation fell a significant 0.5ppts to 8.0% y/y, while core PPI declined a more modest 0.2ppts to 5.4% y/y."