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47 August 2025 J O U R N A L themortgagepoint.com August 2025 » tions and job availability over the next six months, and optimism about future income prospects eroded slightly." The Conference Board reported on consumers' plans to buy a home within six months. Those planning to buy a home fell slightly to 5.9% in June. Of those, respondents planning to buy a newly constructed home decreased to 0.2%, and those planning to buy an existing home dropped to 3.2%. The remaining 2% were planning to buy a home but were undecided between new or existing homes. The state of tariffs remains key for many as they begin to feel the economic pressure of the Trump administration-im- posed actions. "Tariffs remained on top of consum- ers' minds and were frequently associ- ated with concerns about their negative impacts on the economy and prices," Dr. Guichard added. "Inflation and high prices were another important concern cited by consumers in June. However, there were a few more mentions of easing inflation compared to last month. This is in line with a cooling in consumers' average 12-month inflation expectations to 6.0% (down from 6.4% in May and 7% in April). References to geopolitics and social unrest increased slightly from pre- vious months but remained much lower on the list of topics affecting consumers' views." Builder Confidence Wanes As buyers and sellers struggle with market conditions, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 32 in June, down two points from May, according to the National Asso- ciation of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The Index has only posted a lower reading twice since 2012—in December 2022 when it hit 31 and in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic when it plunged more than 40 points to 30. "Buyers are increasingly moving to the sidelines due to elevated mortgage rates and tariff and economic uncertain- ty," said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes, a Home Builder and Developer from Lex- ington, North Carolina. "To help address affordability concerns and bring hesitant buyers off the fence, a growing number of builders are moving to cut prices." The latest HMI survey also revealed that 37% of builders reported cutting prices in June, the highest percentage since NAHB began tracking this figure on a monthly basis in 2022. This compares with 34% of builders who reported cutting prices in May and 29% in April. Mean- while, the average price reduction was 5% in June, the same as it has been every month since last November. "Rising inventory levels and prospec- tive home buyers who are on hold waiting for affordability conditions to improve are resulting in weakening price growth in most markets and generating price declines for resales in a growing number of markets," NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said. "Given current market conditions, NAHB is forecasting a decline in single-family starts for 2025." HOMEBUYER COSTS HEIGHTEN AS AFFORDABILITY GAP WIDENS A typical U.S. home was beyond the reach of a median-income household five years ago, and according to a recent Zillow analysis, even if they had $73,000 saved for a down payment, they are currently more than $17,000 short. Incredible home value increase and rising mortgage rates in recent years have raised the financial bar for homeown- ership, even though the housing market is more buyer-friendly this spring with more properties for sale and a record number of sellers lowering their list pric- es. Affordability pressures have increased interest in single-family rentals while reducing buyers' desire. "Affordability remains a steep hill to climb, especially for first-time buyers," said Kara Ng, Senior Economist at Zillow. "While the financial bar has gotten higher, we're also in the middle of the most buyer-friendly spring since before the pandemic for those who can make the finances work. Inventory is up, prices are softening, and sellers are negotiating. To make homeownership more broad- ly accessible, though, we need lasting solutions, starting with policies that allow more homes to be built in the right places." Incredible home value increase and rising mortgage rates in recent years have