8 Things That Will Get Cheaper in 2015
With falling oil prices and low inflation in general, the need to purchase gold as an inflation hedge is simply not there, which is pushing its price down. Bloomberg reported that after rebounding about 4 percent from a four-year low in early November, prices will average $1,175 next quarter, while Société Générale expects $950 in 2015’s fourth quarter.
REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
Several factors will bring the price of milk down, including lower feed prices and lower milk exports. U.S. dairies are also expected to increase milk production this year, which, at an anticipated 212.8 billion pounds, could reach a record. “That’s the biggest production increase I’ve ever seen,” AgDairy Market’s Robin Schmahl, a dairy market expert, told AgWeb.
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Builders are planning to lower the price of new homes to boost the volume of units sold, which has stood around or lower than 450,000 a year since the recession, to at least 500,000. “In 2015, I expect builders to try to push above that ceiling on new home sales,” Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow, told Forbes. “To do that, they’re going to have to sell less expensive homes.”
REUTERS/Gary Cameron
New products from Chinese vendors will put pressure on existing players such as Fitbit, which will be forced to lower the price of smartwatches. “Chinese vendors might be able to bring Android Wear-based smartwatches to very affordable price points below $150 with decent designs and sensors – driving mass-market adoption in mature markets,” said Angela McIntyre, research director at research company Gartner.
REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Airline fares are expected to drop thanks to cheaper oil, according to International Air Transport Association. “It’s going to be six months or so before airlines are seeing lower fuel costs, and at that point consumers are likely to see a fall in travel costs,” Brian Pearce, IATA’s chief economist, told AP. However, the savings to the consumer will be minimal and certainly not in line with the dramatic fall in oil.
REUTERS/B Mathur
Poultry is benefiting from lower feed, particularly corn prices. DeWayne Dove, vice president at food purchasing co-op SpenDifference, expects chicken breast prices, which are already low, to fall 4 to 5 percent this year. However, some restaurant chains including Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen are expecting the price of small chickens, which are in lower supply, to increase, according to a November Restaurant News report.
REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
Opinions differ on whether oil prices will continue to drop in 2015 or not, but those who see it falling further look to continued strong supply and subdued demand as the U.S. shifts to natural gas. The price has fallen to as low as $50; the Energy Information Administration expects gas prices to remain under $3 a gallon this year.
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Bacon lovers, rejoice. The price of your favorite food, which rose in 2014 due mostly to the deadly PED virus, is bound to fall in 2015 thanks to cheaper feed prices, particularly corn. DeWayne Dove, vice president at Denver-based food purchasing co-op SpenDifference, expects bacon prices to fall 15 to 17 percent in 2015.
Flickr/cookbookman17