Scott Higgins, LEED APMarch 3, 2025

Pepper provides a 2024 wrap-up and look ahead for the Price Forecast

When the COVID pandemic began and we experienced wild price swings in materials and difficult logistics and lead-time management issues, Pepper Construction’s Jake Pepper and Scott Higgins began a regular video series and podcast to share whatever insights we could offer our clients and industry partners. Time marched on and as the world moved into recovery mode, we kept the conversation going as new challenges and topics of concern came to the forefront.

This month, we choose to revisit the Price Forecast format to explore what could be ahead for the construction industry in 2025. Topics include inflation, interest rates and other ongoing challenges that have carried over from 2024. The conversation also touches on the potential for regulatory changes with a new administration and the balance between oil and gas production and renewable energy investments. The session wraps up with discussion on DOGE and the potential for optimizing unused office space.

Specifically, here are the questions that Jake and Scott consider in this 30-minute session – the 26th in our series:

  • What is the outlook for the current construction and real estate markets and what information is driving them?
  • What can we learn from the consumer price index and producer price index?
  • What is the current outlook for inflation?
  • What is the correlation between interest rates and inflation?
  • What has happened in the materials markets post-COVID and what insights can we offer for pricing?
  • What about the job market, both broadly and within the construction industry?
  • Now that we’re into the new Trump administration, what should we expect?
  • What about the energy market and renewable energy?

Plus, stay tuned for a special “wild card” question at the end that takes a look backward and into the future.

The Pepper Price Forecast is something we started during COVID when we saw wild price swings in materials and difficult lead-time management issues. At that time, volatility in the supply chain meant that there was something new to talk about once and sometimes twice a month. In the past six months, the cadence of the conversation slowed significantly. Now, we felt the time was right to take a brief look back over 2024 and see what some of the same indicators are telling us for the year ahead.

Click here to listen to PRECONversations Episode 26: What will 2025 bring for construction?

About the Author

Scott-Higgins

Scott Higgins, LEED APSenior Vice President of Preconstruction

As senior vice president, Scott provides leadership for Pepper’s Centers of Technical Excellence. With 30 years of experience, Scott provides some of the industry’s most compelling thought leadership in the disciplines under his guidance. His expertise leads to compelling solutions and counsel for the most discerning clients, drawing on his years in self perform work, estimating and project management. Scott holds a Master of Science in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering from Iowa State University, and he is a LEED AP.