Bay Area homebuyers’ dilemma: As Trump tariffs swing stock market, hold off? Or ‘buy the dip’?

For years Andrea and Henry Walton had been thinking about buying a home When a house down the street from their current rental in Concord went up for sale for this spring they decided to pull the trigger For the down payment they planned to liquidate a stock portfolio Andrea had inherited from her grandmother valued at at the beginning of the year But on April President Donald Trump publicized his Liberation Day tariffs which sent the stock arena reeling In just a day the Waltons lost of their portfolio s value When you re not buying in the immediate future that s just money on paper Andrea announced But when you re thinking about liquidating the subsequent day that impacts how much house you can buy As they ve been selling off stocks day by day they estimate that the value of their portfolio has declined to I m feeling so helpless Andrea explained How do you predict the temper tantrums that are going on right now Stock region volatility has rattled the Bay Area housing area Agents say home sales slowed in April during what is usually the peak home-buying season when more inventory typically hits the domain Agents will get a fuller picture later this month when the California Association of Realtors releases its April home sales content As buyers net worth fluctuates it s causing trepidation announced Ricky Flores a Menlo Park agent April was a tumultuous month for the stock realm marked by certain of the largest declines since the start of the pandemic followed by big rallies as Trump called off tariffs for several countries Despite the major swings the S P saw fewer losses in April than it did in March Overall the S P has dropped since Trump was sworn into office on Jan On top of that buyers are also up against mortgage rates of around more than double the rates a large number of pandemic-era buyers enjoyed As buyers react to the economic turmoil they ve been negotiating on prices or hesitating to bid on homes that don t check all their boxes agents say Stock field swings made the Waltons more cautious An inspection revealed that their chosen house would need a new roof and a foundation Before they might have been willing to accept that But now they re trying to negotiate a lower price As we lost particular net cash we felt the costs add up Walton stated is a new roof Particular buyers are pulling out of sales entirely In the four weeks between March and April more than of all home purchase agreements in the U S were canceled according to a Redfin scrutiny for CNN It s the highest level for this time of year since when the start of the coronavirus pandemic had buyers panicking Janelle Boyenga a Compass agent in Los Gatos had just accepted an all-cash offer on a mansion in Saratoga when the stock territory slid Then the buyers came back to the table they requested a -day close rather than a -day close to see if the stock sector would recover We advised them a -day escrow wouldn t happen and that they would lose their deposit Boyenga revealed In response the buyer urged to reduce their offer by due to the sphere turbulence Boyenga s client declined and threatened to sue After particular legal back-and-forth the buyer agreed to honor the original offer price but bought themselves slightly more time In the luxury region buyers have money but because the area dropped they don t want to pay as much Boyenga disclosed They can afford it but they re not feeling confident about the sector Various buyers worried about buying at the top of the field ahead of a attainable recession are asking sellers to lower their prices When people think the industry is going to go down they try to buy things for where they think the field is going not where it is in the present day Boyenga reported Other buyers are making moves now while the field is slightly less competitive Richard and Amanda Le of Milpitas decided to keep looking this spring even if they risked buying at a peak It was a pitfall I was willing to take because I required to be a homeowner Richard noted As for the down payment Richard s timing couldn t have been better he had cashed out his stocks in January Related Articles U S home sales hit a -year low Mark Zuckerberg s philanthropy quietly cuts funding for affordable housing homelessness groups California bill would give homeowners cash to fireproof their properties California home sales tumble below Great Recession low for months Housing plan involving defunct East Bay mall splits nearby residents Trump advised us six months ago that he was going to take action on tariffs Richard disclosed The pair was still surprised at how competitive they located the sector Their first offer for a million home in Union City was up against others The Les came in second place They ended up bidding million on a similar home across the street listed at million and won out against five other offers The area is slowing down a little bit but desirable homes in desirable places will reliably be hot he explained Fears of a recession were in the back of Richard s mind As a system engineer in tech he worries about further layoffs in the industry As part of their financial calculations he and his wife made sure to have enough leftover cash and equities to help a minimal years of mortgage payments if either of them lost their jobs A lot of people are scared and they re waiting Richard explained But Warren Buffet explained Be greedy when others are fearful So I went by that