What's behind sluggish home sales?

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report — Episode Summary

Episode: What's behind sluggish home sales?
Date: May 12, 2026
Host: Sabri Ben Ashore
Reporter: Carla Javier

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the sluggish pace of home sales across the United States, investigating why an expected upswing has failed to materialize this spring. The discussion explores regional differences, the impact of global conflict on mortgage rates, and the broader economic effects of a stalled housing market. The latter half of the episode shifts to U.S. farm aid, highlighting the complexities and challenges faced by smaller, diversified farms under new federal programs.

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1. Sluggish Home Sales: What’s Happening?

Main Segment Begins: [01:01]

Key Points & Discussion

• Marginal uptick in home sales:

  • In April, home sales increased by a mere 2/10 of a percent year over year, driven entirely by growth in the South. Sales were flat in the West and declined in the Midwest and Northeast.

    "Last month, April, people bought and sold more homes than they did the year before, but not by much—was up just 2/10 of a percent."
    — Sabri Ben Ashore [01:01]

• Why didn’t the market rebound?

  • Lisa Sturtevant of Bright MLS notes that initial signs pointed to a more active market: declining mortgage rates, rising listings, and improving affordability.

    "Mortgage rates were going to come down. Listings were on the rise. Affordability was starting to improve."
    — Lisa Sturtevant [01:39]

• Global conflict derails housing optimism:

  • The escalation of war with Iran and broader Middle East tensions injected “uncertainty and volatility,” quickly affecting mortgage rates and shaking consumer confidence.

    "The conflict in the Middle East has created a lot more uncertainty and volatility than we had anticipated."
    — Lisa Sturtevant [01:49]

  • Mortgage rates, which had dipped just below 6%, began climbing again.

    "Mortgage rates, which had dipped just below 6% before the war, started ticking back up, making it more expensive to finance a purchase and potentially creating a sort of psychological effect on buyers too."
    — Mark Hamrick (Bankrate) via narrator [01:55]

• Housing market sentiment:

  • Mark Hamrick, Bankrate, summarizes the market mood:

    "Spring has not sprung for the home selling season this year. It is essentially a stuck or frozen market right now, and we see flattish numbers both month over month and year over year for sales of previously owned homes."
    — Mark Hamrick [02:08]

• Broader economic impact:

  • Lawrence Yoon (National Association of Realtors) emphasizes the ripple effects:

    "Anytime there's a home sale, you know, people spend money on remodeling, you know, trying to do additional lawn care service and actual act of moving, you know, getting the moving truck, the mortgage origination."
    — Lawrence Yoon [02:30]

  • Reduced home sales mean less economic activity beyond the real estate sector.

    "Which is why Yoon says sluggish home sales are not good for the broader economy."
    — Carla Javier [02:45]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• "It is essentially a stuck or frozen market right now." — Mark Hamrick [02:08]
• "Anytime there's a home sale... people spend money on remodeling... the actual act of moving... the mortgage origination." — Lawrence Yoon [02:30]

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2. Brief News Segments

Begins: [02:53]

Key Highlights

• Gas Tax Proposal:
  President Trump floats a temporary federal gas tax suspension (currently 18 cents/gallon for gasoline; 24 cents/gallon for diesel) to soften fuel price hikes caused by the Iran war.

  "President Trump says he wants to suspend the federal gasoline tax temporarily to help people cope with the rising cost of fuel caused by the president's Iran war."
  — Sabri Ben Ashore [02:53]

  • Needs Congressional approval.

• Labubu Trend:
  Labubu collectables craze waning; sales up 80% YOY in March but projected growth now only 13%. Labubu movie in production.

  "But don't leboohoo Labubu just yet. There's a Labubu movie in production."
  — Sabri Ben Ashore [03:47]

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3. Farm Aid and Small Growers

Segment begins: [05:43]

Key Points & Insights

• Federal bailout package for farmers:

  • $12 billion announced for U.S. farmers harmed by trade wars; $11B for commodity producers, $1B designated for “growers” (produce, small farms).

• Small farms under strain:

  • H. Connelly reports on Finca Ceremos, a diversified vegetable farm:

    "If you can grow it in this climate and it's an annual vegetable, chances are we grow it. So we've got a crop list of about 40 different crops and about 200 different varieties."
    — Chris Nickel (Finca Ceremos) [06:35]

  • Small farms dependent on federal food programs have lost vital support due to program cuts:

    "We've lost about $12,000 that we were planning on from a partner in the city that was relying on a federal program that got cut to pay for our food for their food pantry."
    — Chris Nickel [07:07]

  • 20% of annual income is now uncertain due to further cuts affecting SNAP and nutrition incentives.

• Bureaucratic hurdles and uncertainty:

  • Aid application process is not fit for diversified vegetable farms:

    "It was designed for commodity growers who can say, I grow 400 acres of corn that I sell to this silo. It's so much more complicated."
    — Chris Nickel [07:29]

  • Small farmers are unsure how much aid, if any, they will eventually get, with payouts potentially delayed up to two years.

    "Like, if you're going to put 40, 60 hours applying for this and you may only get $200, it's not worth it."
    — Vanessa Garcia Polanco (Young Farmers Coalition) [08:27]

• Strength in local relationships:
  Direct community connections are more reliable for economic survival than unstable government programs:

  "I literally know every one of our CSA members names and about their families, where they live, all that stuff. And it's beautiful and... also helps me survive economically because of that close relationship."
  — Chris Nickel [08:49]

Memorable Moments

• "20% of our budget is in limbo. And that's not insubstantial." — Chris Nickel [07:23]
• "Nickel relies on these relationships because they're more durable than government programs." — H. Conley [09:07]

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “April, people bought and sold more homes than they did the year before, but not by much—was up just 2/10 of a percent.” — Sabri Ben Ashore [01:01]
• “The conflict in the Middle East has created a lot more uncertainty and volatility than we had anticipated.” — Lisa Sturtevant [01:49]
• “It is essentially a stuck or frozen market right now.” — Mark Hamrick [02:08]
• “Anytime there’s a home sale... people spend money on remodeling... lawn care... moving truck.” — Lawrence Yoon [02:30]
• “We've lost about $12,000... from a partner in the city that was relying on a federal program that got cut.” — Chris Nickel [07:07]
• “20% of our budget is in limbo. And that's not insubstantial.” — Chris Nickel [07:23]
• “If you're going to put 40, 60 hours applying for this and you may only get $200, it's not worth it.” — Vanessa Garcia Polanco [08:27]
• “I literally know every one of our CSA members names and about their families... and it’s beautiful and... helps me survive economically because of that close relationship.” — Chris Nickel [08:49]

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4. Conclusion

In under ten minutes, this episode delivers a sharp snapshot of the key economic stories shaping the moment: a paralyzed housing market hampered by rising mortgage rates and international instability, and the ongoing challenges facing small U.S. farms as federal aid programs struggle to reach them. Both sectors reveal how economic uncertainty and policy gaps ripple far beyond direct participants, affecting communities and broader economic health.

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For more business news and insights, tune in daily to the Marketplace Morning Report.

Transcript

[Host]

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[Sabri Ben Ashore]

Home Sales we were all rooting for you from Marketplace, I'm Sabri Ben Ashore in New York last month, April people bought and sold more homes than they did the year before, but not by much was up just 2.10of a percent. This is according to numbers released by the national association of Realtors. All of that yearly sales growth was happening in the South. It existing home sales were flat in the west and fell in the Midwest and Northeast. So we asked Marketplace's Carlo Javier to look into why sales have been so sluggish.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

There were signs that home sales were going to pick up this year, says Lisa Sturtevant at Bright mls.

[Reporter/Expert]

Mortgage rates were going to come down. Listings were on the rise. Affordability was starting to improve.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That is until the war ramped up

[Host]

the conflict with Iran.

[Reporter/Expert]

The conflict in the Middle east has created a lot more uncertainty and volatility than we had anticipated.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Mortgage rates, which had dipped just below 6% before the war, started ticking back up, making it more expensive to finance a purchase and potentially creating a sort of psychological effect on buyers too, says Mark Hamrick at Bankrate.

[Host]

Spring has not sprung for the home selling season this year. It is essentially a stuck or frozen market right now, and we see flattish numbers both month over month and year over year for sales of previously owned homes.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The pace of these transactions is important and not just for buyers and sellers of homes, says Lawrence Yoon at the national association of Realtors.

[Host]

Anytime there's a home sales, you know, people spend money on remodeling, you know, trying to do additional lawn care service and actual act of moving, you know, getting the moving truck, the mortgage origination.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Which is why Yoon says sluggish home sales are not good for the broader economy. I'm Carla Javier from Marketplace.

[Sabri Ben Ashore]

President Trump says he wants to suspend the federal gasoline tax temporarily to help people cope with the rising cost of fuel caused by the president's Iran war. Energy Secretary Chris Wright floated the idea over the weekend. The federal gas tax right now is 18 cents a gallon. For diesel, it's 24 cents a gallon. This would need congressional approval, and the Labubu craze is officially on its way out. Pop Mart International Group reported that yes, sales were up 80% year over year in March, but but things have slowed way down in the first quarter and growth this year is expected to be just 13%. But don't leboohoo Labubu just yet. There's a Labubu movie in production.

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[Sabri Ben Ashore]

the end of last year, the Trump administration announced a $12 billion bailout package for U.S. farmers who are suffering from the president's trade war. Eleven billion of that total is for commodity producers. These are the farms that grow thousands of acres of corn or soy or wheat or cotton, mainly to ship overseas. The remaining billion is set aside for farmers the USDA calls growers. They produce fruits and vegetables and everything else. They are not caught in the crosshairs of the trade war the same way commodity farmers are. But as H. Connelly reports, they have plenty to worry about domestically.

[Reporter/Expert]

We're talking about smaller farms. Maybe they have some sheep and a few chickens. They grow cabbages, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peppers, okra. Finca Ceremos is a farm like that in upstate.

[Chris Nickel]

If you can grow it in this climate and it's an annual vegetable, chances are we grow it. So we've got a crop list of about 40 different crops and about 200 different varieties.

[Reporter/Expert]

Chris Nickel is hoping to make $140,000 selling those vegetables this year. Most of that income is from a sliding scale CSA or community supported agriculture project. The rest comes from selling wholesale to food pantries and mutual aid groups or came from. Because the administration has slashed the food access programs that support them.

[Chris Nickel]

We've lost about $12,000 that we were planning on from a partner in the city that was relying on a federal program that got cut to pay for our food for their food pantry.

[Reporter/Expert]

Then there are cuts to SNAP and nutrition incentive programs.

[Chris Nickel]

So in total, about 20% of our budget is in limbo. And that's not insubstantial.

[Reporter/Expert]

Nickel applied for aid through the bailout program and they found it a pain. It was designed for commodity growers who can say, I grow 400 acres of corn that I sell to this silo. It's so much more complicated. For Finca Ceremos, I am telling them

[Chris Nickel]

that the acreage ranged from 0.02 acres for, I believe it was celery, all the way up to 0.1 or 0.15 acres for things that we grow a lot more of, like lettuce and cabbage.

[Reporter/Expert]

And a lot of farmers don't know their precise bed feet to calculate into fractional acres for each varietal. You get the picture. The application can take a long time. And the kicker is farmers have no idea how much aid they'll get. The federal government has already paid out $9.6 billion to commodity growers, but the USDA hasn't even published reimbursement rates for specialty CR yet. Vanessa Garcia Polanco is with the Young Farmers Coalition. Like, if you're going to put 40, 60 hours applying for this and you may only get $200, it's not worth it. Based on past programs, Garcia Polanco thinks even that would take 18 months to two years to get paid out. Nicol's not waiting on that money. Seedlings need planting and community needs cultivating.

[Chris Nickel]

I literally know every one of our CSA members names and about their families, where they live, all that stuff. And it's beautiful and touc and moving and also helps me survive economically because of that close relationship. And that is the case for most of the farmers in this region.

[Reporter/Expert]

Nickel relies on these relationships because they're more durable than government programs. I'm H. Conley for Marketplace, and in

[Sabri Ben Ashore]

New York, I'm Sabri Benishore with the Marketplace Morning Report. From apm American Public Media.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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