Why the Spring Home Buying Season Is Shaping Up to Be a Disappointment

WSJ Your Money Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

News, Business News

3.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The real-estate industry had high expectations going into the spring selling season, but mortgage rates, economic instability, and affordability sidelined prospective buyers – again. Wall Street Journal reporter Nicole Friedman joins host Ariana Aspuru to break down what happened. Further reading: Buying a Home in 2025: Navigating the Crunch Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Steakhouse Stack, with two layers of delicious beef, crispy onions and peppercorn sauce.
0:04.5	It's the kind of McDonald's you take photos of to put pride of place on the mantelpiece.
0:08.2	Sure, you'll need to make room, but you remember what your wedding day looked like.
0:11.5	The Steakhouse Stack. It's McDonald's, and then some.
0:15.6	Available to the 17th of June, served from 11 a.m., subjects of availability, participating in restaurants only.
0:22.8	Here's your money briefing for Friday, May 23rd. I'm Mariana Aspuru for the Wall Street Journal.
0:33.3	The housing market still hasn't found its footing.
0:40.5	Mortgage rates are hovering around 6.75%. Prospective buyers and sellers are worried about the economy.
0:45.0	And prices aren't that much lower than record highs.
0:49.0	Meaning, the spring home buying season has been underwhelming.
0:53.3	The spring is crucial for the real estate industry.
0:56.9	And if the market is slow this spring, it can be hard for home sales to recover in the fall.
1:04.9	And so it really sets the tone for what we might expect for the whole year.
1:09.5	I spoke with Wall Street Journal reporter Nicole Friedman
1:12.2	about how the latest numbers can help us understand
1:15.1	what happened and what's next.
1:17.7	That's after the break.
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