Big gaming

April 11, 2025

• The ¸é±ð²¹±ô³Ù´Ç°ù.³¦´Ç³¾Â® economics team update gives you the relevant economic and real estate information you need to know each week every Friday to navigate the housing market as a homebuyer, home seller, or industry professional.
• For the week ending April 11, ¸é±ð²¹±ô³Ù´Ç°ù.³¦´Ç³¾Â® Chief Economist Danielle Hale discusses the latest tariff developments and inflation trends as well as how these cross-currents are impacting everything from mortgage rates to home purchase sentiment. I’ll also cover our weekly housing data, review regional trends in the Hottest Housing Markets and down payments, and share the latest on high-end housing.
• In addition to a 90-day pause on many tariffs, this week saw some of the lowest inflation data in 4 years. Danielle discusses what this means for monetary policy.
• Mortgage rates were relatively steady in the weekly tracker, but this smooths over a fair amount of day-to-day volatility. Danielle shares her advice for home shoppers navigating this trend.
• Danielle covers the latest dip in home purchase sentiment and why we’re seeing the drop. Weekly housing data may reflect these consumer concerns with little change in activity in the last week.
• Geographically speaking, some regions are much hotter than others and Danielle reports on how this affects how buyers navigate the market, including what happens to their down payments.
• Finally, shifting trends in high-end vs. lower-priced home sales have caused a tightening in higher-priced homes even as the market is slowing for more moderately priced homes.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

• ±õ’m Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. As the tax filing deadline approaches, ±õ’m going to discuss the latest tariff developments and inflation trends as well as how these cross-currents are impacting everything from mortgage rates to home purchase sentiment. I’ll also cover our weekly housing data, review regional trends in the Hottest Housing Markets and down payments, and share the latest on high-end housing.
• First, the big news of the week: we have a 90 day Pause on many, but not all, tariffs. Investors have experienced some whiplash as stock and financial markets digested the information, attempting to calibrate prices in response. 
• We also saw March inflation data, which revealed that the overall price level dropped, bringing annual and core inflation to some of the lowest levels in 4 years. While the milestone is big, it is not enough of an outlier to shift policy from ‘wait and see,’ especially in light of trade policy news.
• Mortgage rates were relatively steady in the weekly tracker, dropping a modest 2 basis points. But it’s important to note that these rates were largely gathered before the tariff pause announcement, and below the relatively smooth week to week averages there is a lot of volatility that today’s home shoppers will have to contend with. Looking ahead, there are factors pushing in opposite directions that make it harder to predict which way rates will go. The best way for shoppers to navigate this is to test a wide range of rate assumptions when setting a budget.
• Amid recent volatility, it’s perhaps no surprise that home purchase sentiment fell in March. The big driver of the decline was rising concern about job security. Although actual employment data continue to be quite healthy, consumers are concerned.
• These concerns may be visible in weekly housing data. The time it takes to market a home for sale is growing as both the total number of for-sale homes and newly listed homes grows. Against this backdrop, however, national home prices remain relatively flat. 
• There are many ways to slice and dice housing data. Through the lens of geography, our data reveals some commonalities. The March Hottest Housing Markets–the areas where homes sell quickly and get a lot of online attention–were dominated by Northeast and Midwest markets. Reflecting this competitiveness, our report on Down Payment Trends found that down payments were also higher in the Northeast and Midwest and lower in the South and West. 
• And finally, we took a look at the high-end housing market and found that sales activity has outpaced the lower end of the market leading to more competitive conditions among higher-priced homes even as the intensity at the lower end has dropped.
• You can find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at Big gaming/research.  You can also follow us on (formerly ) for real time updates. And for graphics.

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