July 20, 2022

Rising prices and Fed rate hikes have many economists predicting an impending recession. Still, our John Schmitz tells WKRC TV reporter Paula Toti he sees signs some issues of concern are already moving in the right direction; commodity prices are dropping and housing stock rose last month for the first time in up to two years.

“Housing prices will probably slow. I’m seeing more sale signs for a longer period in Cincinnati than I’ve seen in a number of years.” Schmitz says though, he is not seeing the price declines that were apparent during the Great Recession of 2008; that families are hurting due to high food and fuel costs. “And that has emotion. We’ve seen the price of gas change dramatically over the last 12 months.” Schmitz sees gas prices staying in the low $4 range in August, off the highs of early summer. “That’s good, but I don’t see them back to where they were pre-COVID or during COVID because we’ve eliminated about 5% of our refining capacity.”

 

 

John Schmitz
Portfolio Manager & Principal
Board Director
jschmitz@bahl-gaynor.com

See the entire report HERE