Cnn
–
A few weeks ago, Los Angeles’s real estate agent Scott Price received the kind of call that only occurred once in his two decades: his buyer fell – just two days before closing.
For the price, reason seemed to be growing discomfort with the economy. Price’s customer, warned by his business that layoffs can happen, no longer felt safe enough to make such a major purchase. Rather than taking the risk, the buyer moved away from the house – and their deposit of 3%.
“This is not a common phenomenon for me,” said Price about the transaction. “It was a very unusual event.”
Although the cancellations of the agreement may not be common for the price, they occur more frequently in the United States. During the four weeks between March 17 and April 13, more than 14% of all home purchase agreements in the United States were canceled, according to data provided to CNN by Redfin. This is the highest level for this period of the year since 2020, when the first days of the COVVI-19 pandemic proud the housing market.
The approach of President Donald Trump, in its own right, prices this month, has led economists to warn that everything, from furniture shoes, could soon see price increases, and some provide that a recession could occur this year. But real estate agents say they may already feel the effects of economic uncertainty today.
Even before Trump’s announcement on April 2 of radical prices, the purchase of house in 2025 started slowly. Sales of previously possessed houses, which represent the vast majority of the market, dropped 5.9% in March compared to the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors. It was the lowest pace of house sales in March since 2009.
However, many had hoped that this year’s spring purchase season would be an improvement after the rate of national sales of houses almost stopped in 2024, but fears of recession and a stock market sale which spent on many savings accounts for potential buyers has increased disruption on the real estate market.
“Buyers for the first time were a little tighter,” said Maddy Mixter, a real estate agent based in Tacoma, Washington. “I think there is anxiety if the markets bounce back and it makes buyers younger hesitating even more to withdraw the actions at the moment.”
“I think, for the most part, people take a step back or are really careful in their movements on the real estate market,” she added.
Since Trump announced his “reciprocal” prices on all imports in the United States, later instituting a 90-day break on many highest rates (with the exception of China), the stock market and bond markets have experienced mass fluctuations.
The bond market directly affects home loan rates. Mortgage rates follow the yield of the treasury to 10 years of reference, which increased by 4.5% in the weeks which followed the announcement of the initial price of Trump. Consequently, the average rate on a standard 30 -year fixed mortgage experienced the largest jump of a week in almost a year last week.
“Mortgage rates are a huge factor, especially for house buyers for the first time who are really trying to film acraille at the moment,” said Mixter. “Each tenth increase in points is a big problem.”
Those who may have saved to buy a new house by investing in the stock market can be disappointed by the recent performance of their portfolio: the DOW released 9.1% in the first three weeks of April, the worst index performance for all April since 1932.
At a time when someone’s finances – or career prospects – could be in flow, Douglas Bonearth, certified financial planner and founder of the Bone Fide Wealth Heritage Management, advises to wait to make an important purchase as a new house.
“This is a basis on a case-by-case basis,” he said. “There may be individuals who, whatever uncertainty, have strong savings or feel good in their work.”
For those who plan to buy a new house in the near future, Bonearth suggests being more conservative with investments and ensuring that savings are not exclusively invested in shares.
“If you have a short-term goal, such as buying a house in the coming years, the money you need to facilitate this transaction, such as a deposit, closing costs, supply, moving, all that, which should not be fully invested in the stock market,” he said. “We must make sure that the resources are available for this decision.”
However, there is another way that Trump administration’s business policies already have an impact on the spring market. The prices on imported goods and construction devices have changed the calculation of buyers who seek to buy fixed houses, said Matthew Bizzarro, a real estate agent who works mainly in New York and Westchester, New York.
“The main speech that I have heard of prices is people who buy places that must be intestinal,” said Bizzarro. “Some have started to feel concerned about the cost of the goods to be renovated and that creates a break.”
Mixter, Washington’s real estate agent, also said that many of its new house buyers no longer consider houses that will require renovations.
“Conventionally, starting houses need a little shine,” she said. “But I saw a lot of buyers for the first time who really look at the houses in which they could simply move … just because of the climate and the uncertainty of what is happening in the future.”
However, there are aberrant values. Mixter said that his office had seen interest in real estate purchases among some older owners who recently collected certain actions in the midst of the market for markets.
For the moment, they consider real estate as a healthy alternative investment, she said.
