Scott Carreiro of Daikin Comfort Technologies, North America, and Eric Gude of EGIA weighed in on the economic picture of the home services industry when giving their bold predictions to start 2024 on the most recent episode of Matt Chatts.

"I predicted in 2023 that the industry would be down high single digits, and it looks like that is coming to fruition," said Carreiro. "I think there's some pent up demand, so we're gonna see a slight uptick next year."

Carreiro went on to talk about several factors looking to impact economics the board for contractors, including a shortage of R-410A refrigerant and also a recent EPA ruling on R-410A equipment.

"If interest rates start to come down a bit, lenders are gonna loosen up a little with their practices and start lending down to some lower FICO scores," continued Carreiro.

Carreiro's prediction that the market would go down a bit more aggressively went against Matthew Bratsis' original prediction that the market would stagnate until the end of the year.

Then, Gude jumped in, restating what Carreiro had previously said. "It's not in opposition to you, Matthew, because I still think you have a valid stance, I think that we could see the first rate decline as early as May," said Gude. "But you're right about one thing, the rates for dealers are going to come down immediately, that part is 100% correct."

Gude, taking in to account the downtick in both inflation and unemployment, reasoned that the overall economic situation for contractors will be in a solid place. "That's why they call it a bold prediction," said Gude.

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