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Many people looking to buy a home are having second thoughts right now about signing on the dotted line. Plenty of things are getting in the way - high prices, high interest rates and economic and political worries. NPR's Laurel Wamsley spoke with a couple of those would-be buyers who say the direction of the political winds has unnerved them and caused them to put their searches on hold.
LAUREL WAMSLEY, BYLINE: D and his wife are federal contractors in their early 40s. They live just outside Boston in a two-bedroom condo they bought 13 years ago. They don't need to move, but they would love to have a yard.
D: It's fine, but we'd like to have an American dream place of our own - white-picket fence yard, grow some vegetables.
WAMSLEY: D asked that we not use his name out of fear of harassment for speaking with the media. The spring would have been a good time for them to buy, since they've got down-payment money and a lot of homes have been hitting the market. But instead, their search is on hold for the foreseeable.
D: Given the turmoil in government right now and trying to assess that, we've pretty much given up. And then couple that with the interest rate, it's just become a much less advantageous situation to be in in terms of housing purchases.
WAMSLEY: Mortgage rates are now approaching 7%, and given the mass firings of federal workers and cancellation of government contracts under the Trump administration, D says it's hard to know whether their jobs are safe.
D: So far, it's looking like it's going to be OK, but who knows? The concern comes and goes with each press release.
WAMSLEY: And uncertainty doesn't make people want to plunk down their savings and take on a 30-year loan. Hundreds of miles away, 35-year-old Jeffrey and his husband had been shopping for a home in Dayton, Ohio, where they've been living for five years.
JEFFREY: This would have been our first time buying a house.
WAMSLEY: But those plans have changed as he's watched President Trump strip away civil rights protections and sign executive orders on DEI and gender identity. Jeffrey says he feels like, as a gay couple, their rights could be the next to go.
JEFFREY: If they're coming for trans people, if they're coming for people of color, like, how is it not going to get to gay people, you know?
WAMSLEY: Jeffrey asked that his full name not be used, out of fear for his safety. The couple had been feeling ready to put down roots in Dayton, but he's been dismayed to see Ohio's legislature embracing Trump's agenda, passing laws including a transgender bathroom and sports ban. A ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth is in effect while a legal challenge plays out. So their plan to buy has been replaced by more existential concerns, and now the couple is looking at moving out of the country entirely.
JEFFREY: It's hard to have any sort of future plan when things feel so unstable and, like, an executive order can just be passed on a whim that could attack my rights. It's very overwhelming.
WAMSLEY: While most of those who talk about it aren't moving to Canada just yet, all the political and economic uncertainty is contributing to slow U.S. home sales this spring. This April saw the slowest existing home sales of any April in 16 years, and May's numbers are looking meager, too, as pending sales also slipped. It's a tough time to buy a home, and for some people, the political situation is another reason to wait.
Laurel Wamsley, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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