“It’s just a very giving market. People are excited. There are a lot of programs for first-time homebuyers too. There are a lot of incentives for people to buy right now, so it’s a great market and I think it’s going to be a phenomenal year. It’s still going to be challenging because interest rates are still too high – but I think the right [deal] is out there for everyone.”
Tariff war injects uncertainty into housing market outlook
A potential spoke in the wheel for the housing market, though, is that looming prospect of higher homebuilding and buying costs if the government pushes ahead with its tariff war – especially against Canada.
Affordability is already stretched for plenty of buyers across the country, and Trump’s levies against imports including home appliances, lumber and other construction materials could drive up the cost of building a home by as much as $10,000, according to National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) chief economist Robert Dietz.
With about a third of lumber used in US homebuilding originating from Canada, lumber costs alone are expected to hit $4,900 per home – while there are also question marks about whether the tariffs will stoke inflationary pressures.
“Based on what we know today… I do factor in some effects of tariffs now on inflation, on prices, because I think we’ll see some of those effects later this year,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York president John Williams said Tuesday during a Bloomberg conference.
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