We’re exactly one month into the new year and you might be wondering, "how will my wallet fare in 2024?"
Spectrum News 1 spoke with Ken Entenmann, chief economist at NBT Bank, about his expectations for the economy to learn more.
What You Need To Know
- Chief economist at NBT Bank said we will likely stabilize at a 6% mortgage rate
- He also suggested ignoring the presidential election when it comes to making changes in your finances
- His other piece of advice for 2024 is to save money, because compound interest can have a big impact over time
Entenmann said it’s likely inflation will continue to go down, and he said with employment numbers in a good spot, a recession this year is unlikely.
That’s partially because, he says, big government spending coming out of COVID-19 is steadying, as well as consumer spending with savings going down. But he doesn’t expect prices to go back to where they were.
If you want to buy a house this year, don’t expect the mortgage rates to go down. Entenmann said the 3% rate from years ago probably won’t return, but we will stay at around 6%, which is what we’ve been seeing.
Greater supply and stabilizing mortgage rates should make buying a home a bit less painful than during the last year, Entenmann said.
He said don’t underestimate the power of saving money.
“Our country has long suffered from a low savings rate. It spiked up higher during COVID because we didn’t have any place to go to spend it, and it’s come back down," said Entenmann.
One last piece of advice, he said to ignore the presidential election when it comes to finances.