After several years of consistent mortgage rate increases and soaring home prices, the prognosis for the 2025 housing market seemed promising at the start of the the year. However, recent economic and political instability has cratered consumer confidence and homebuyer optimism.

President Donald Trump's harsher-than-expected global tariffs sent economists scrambling to revise their economic estimates. They project the U.S. economy faces higher inflation, slower growth, and greater recession risks.