To buy or not to buy? New tax law creates uncertainty for some homebuyers

Source: The Orange County Register

Throughout Southern California, potential homebuyers and their real estate agents are trying to assess how tax cuts President Donald Trump signed into law Dec. 20 will impact housing.

Some are pulling out of the market, local agents say. Others are in a holding pattern and some home shoppers said they plan to buy out of state where the tax consequences won’t be as great.

There also are forecasts showing California house price increases won’t be as big as they would have been before the tax changes.

But interviews with economists, mortgage brokers, accountants and agents show there are just as many who think this is no big deal. The brouhaha will die out, they say, once the industry adjusts to the new reality.

“Every time these new laws are passed, there’s panic. Then it ends up being nothing,” said Blake Roberts, CEO at Pier to Pier Brokers in Hermosa Beach. “Death, divorce and desire keep happening, and people still have a need to buy real estate.”