Pending sales of luxury homes dropped by nearly 10 percent in April across the U.S., as increased volatility in the financial markets and widespread uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs are discouraging high-end buyers as much as everyday Americans.
According to a new Redfin report, the April year-over-year drop was the largest decline in the luxury homes market since August 2023. April also saw the lowest level of pending sales in over a decade, the real estate brokerage said, marking an unexpected plunge during a season that is traditionally considered a busy one for both buyers and sellers.
Why It Matters
By the end of last year, experts were confident that the housing shortage affecting the U.S. market would finally ease in 2025, helping slow down the vertiginous price growth that characterized the last five years. As they expected, inventory has risen: in April, there were 1,882,415 homes for sale, up 12.5 percent from a year earlier, according to Redfin.
Prices, however, have continued rising: in April, the median sale price of a typical U.S. home was $438,357, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier. Mortgage rates, despite widespread hopes to the contrary, are still historically high: as of May 22, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.86 percent, according to Freddie Mac.
