Is spring still the best time to buy or sell a home?
NEW YORK, May 30 - This was originally published in the On The Money newsletter, where we share U.S. personal finance tips and insights every other week. Sign up here to receive it for free.
Spring traditionally is considered the buying and selling season for the housing market. But there has been a bit of a vibe shift. U.S. homeowners and prospective buyers are feeling uneasy, a new Bank of America survey shows, as rising mortgage rates deter buyers.
Of the 2,000 respondents to BofA's poll, 60% said they could not tell whether it was a good time to buy a home, according to the report published by the nation's second-largest lender. That is up from 57% last year and 48% in 2023.
Economic uncertainty is not stopping everyone from buying new homes: Sales of new U.S. single-family homes surged to more than a three-year high in April, as builders lowered prices to attract buyers. But new housing inventory is still near levels last seen in 2007.
New homes are not exactly cheap, either. The median new house price was $407,200 in April.
Another interesting tidbit is that new homes are getting smaller. So why aren't they more affordable, opens new tab?
If you're buying a home, selling a home or wondering what to do now, I want to hear from you. Tell me about your experience. Write to me at
What the current SALT tax proposal means for you
I've been especially interested in tax legislation working its way through Congress, especially because the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would allow a deduction of up to $40,000 on federal returns for state and local taxes, known as SALT. A previous version of the bill had a cap of $30,000.
If passed by the Senate, the new expanded SALT cap would benefit millions of big earners in high-tax states, including New York (where I live), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (where my parents live), Maryland, Oregon and California.
Of course, bills tend to morph and change in the legislative process. As Donald Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful bill' winds its way through the Senate, it could end up looking very different.
Follow the latest news here. And let me know if you stand to benefit from an expanded SALT deduction. Write to me at
Read, watch and listen
What's behind these big stock swings?
JetBlue, United tie up to let passengers book on both websites
Humanoid labor: Behind the global race for robot supremacy
How the student-loan crisis will show up in the economy, opens new tab (WSJ)
Trump administration axes Biden-era barrier for crypto in 401(k) plans, opens new tab (CNBC)
Why Amazon's in-car software deal with Stellantis fizzled
Retirees, get ready to need long-term care. Here's what to know, opens new tab (NYT)
Five things I learned reading Reuters this week
How do you stay informed about climate change?
Reuters is surveying readers like you to find out how you get your news about climate change, and what your concerns are around the topic. It took me less than two minutes to take the survey, andyou can do so here, opens new tab.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Indivior to delist from London Stock Exchange, maintain Nasdaq listing
June 2 (Reuters) - Pharma firm Indivior (INDV.L), opens new tab said on Monday it will cancel its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, effective July 25, maintaining its primary listing on the Nasdaq to reduce costs and better align with its U.S.-centric business. The company, known for its opioid addiction treatment, joins a growing number of companies delisting from London, as lower valuations and weak investor appetite continue to drive firms toward U.S. markets. Shares of Indivior, which floated in London in late 2014, have dropped more than 60% from record highs hit in June 2018. The company said over 80% of its revenue now comes from the U.S., with the Nasdaq (NDAQ.O), opens new tab accounting for about 75% of recent trading volumes. The delisting aims to streamline operations and reflect the company's strategic focus on the U.S. market, it said. Indivior moved its primary listing to the United States last year. The decision to delist from London comes just months after Indivior overhauled its management. Earlier this year, it appointed David Wheadon as chair and Joe Ciaffoni as CEO.
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
China accuses US of ‘seriously violating' trade war truce
Update: Date: 2025-06-02T06:36:56.000Z Title: Introduction: China accuses US of 'seriously violating' trade truce Content: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Trade war tensions are on the rise again, as relations between China and the US deteriorate. Beijing has hit back this morning against Washington, accusing the US of 'seriously violating' the trade truce which the two powers agreed in Zurich last month. China's commerce ministry also promised to take forceful measures to safeguard its interests, rejecting a claim from Donald Trump last week that China has 'totally violated' its trade agreement with the US. In a statement, the ministry said: 'The U.S. government has unilaterally and repeatedly provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating uncertainty and instability in bilateral economic and trade relations.' Beijing accused the US of unilaterally introducing new discriminatory restrictions, including new guidelines on AI chip export controls, curbs on chip design software sales to China and the revocation of Chinese student visas, Bloomberg reports. Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region have dropped today, as investors fret that the détente between the two sides is fraying. Last Friday, the US president – perhaps stung by jibes that Trump Always Chickens Out – declared that China 'HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.', raising fears that the trade war will continue to rattle the global economy. This latest uncertainty is hurting the US dollar. It has slipped against a basket of currencies, with the pound up almost half a cent at $1.35, and the euro gaining a third of a cent to $1.138. The legality of Trump's trade war was also thown into doubt last week, when a US federal court ruled that his 'liberation day' tariff plan is illegal, only for a federal appeals court to temporarily reinstate the tariffs while the case progresses. 9am BST: Eurozone manufacturing PMI for May 9.30am BST: UK manufacturing PMI for May 9.30am BST: Bank of England mortgage approvals and credit conditions data 3pm BST: US manufacturing PMI for May
The Herald Scotland
34 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump tariffs are not going away amid legal battles: White House
Lutnick predicted Trump would win on appeal. But he also referenced other tariff authorities if the higher courts agree with the trade court that Trump can't invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to bypass Congress to issue the tariffs. Trade whiplash: Appeals Court allows Trump to keep tariffs while appeal plays out "Rest assured, tariffs are not going away," Lutnick said. "He has so many other authorities that even in the weird and unusual circumstance where this was taken away, we just bring on another or another or another." In addition to the trade court's ruling, a federal district judge in Washington, D.C. blocked the Trump administration from collecting tariffs from a pair of Illinois toy importers, also ruling that the same 1977 law didn't grant Trump the powers to impose tariffs as he claimed. Trump addressed the legal battles in a Sunday post on Truth Social: "If the Courts somehow rule against us on Tariffs, which is not expected, that would allow other Countries to hold our Nation hostage with their anti-American Tariffs that they would use against us. This would mean the Economic ruination of the United States of America!" Amid the tariff whiplash from the court rulings, Trump announced on May 30 that he's doubling his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from a 25% rate to 50%. 'Nobody's going to get around that': Donald Trump to double tariffs on foreign steel to 50% "I think it cost us a week - maybe cost us a week," Lutnick said of the court decisions, arguing that other countries still want to make trade deals with the United States. "Everybody came right back to the table. Everybody is talking to us. You're going to see over the next couple of weeks really first-class deals for the American worker." For two months, Trump and White House officials have boasted about their prospects of using tariffs to secure trade agreements with other nations. So far, the administration has only secured a deal with the United Kingdom, in addition to a pact with China to slash massive tariffs on each other for 90 days. Trump later accused China of violating the tariff agreement on May 30, White House officials: Trump and China's Xi Jinping to speak soon, iron out trade fight Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he expects Trump to soon talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping, expressing confidence trade issues will be "ironed out," including over critical minerals he said Beijing is refusing to open to trade. "They are withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement," Bessent said. "Maybe it's a glitch in the Chinese system. Maybe it's intentional. We'll see after the president speaks with the party chairman." The Chinese government said Xi has not spoken to Trump since his Jan. 20 inauguration. "I believe we'll see something very soon," Bessent said when asked whether a meeting is scheduled for Trump to talk to Xi. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
