For a few months in a row, business for Kevin Stalling became extremely slow.
The Kansas City area developer and homebuilder was having trouble finding buyers for his newly built houses.
“People held back on their money. They were not interested in moving, afraid to move, I don’t know,” said Stalling, the owner of Dreams and Design Building.
It was a trend felt across the country fueled by pre-election jitters. Homeowners and potential buyers, afraid of the unknown, were not selling their homes or purchasing new ones.
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“A lot of people were getting approved and they were looking and then ultimately they were afraid to take that step. They thought, ‘ok, we’ll wait, we’ll wait, we’ll wait,’” said Stalling.
Today, Stalling’s business has picked up again and housing experts are telling homeowners or potential buyers not to worry.
“I think it’s a very positive time for the housing market,” said Dan Whitney, president and CEO of Land Marketing Inc.
Every four months, Whitney monitors new housing activity in the nine counties, including the Kansas City metro. He sat down with 41 Action News to explain why he believes the market will continue to grow, despite concern over president-elect Donald Trump’s proposed policies.
“Historically presidents have not had the kind of impact on our housing cycles that a lot of people would like to give them credit for. It has to do more with overall economy and interest rates,” he said.
During his campaign, Trump promised to implement tough immigration policies and rollback regulations— both of which could have an impact on the housing industry.
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“The housing industry relies so much on immigrant labor,” said Whitney. “From a consumer standpoint, both of those things could impact consumers. From a labor standpoint, it could make things more expensive but deregulation might make it easier to get a loan.”
But Whitney warned any change would take time and have a slow impact on buyers or sellers. In the meantime, he said homeowners or buyers should not worry.
"It’s a little hectic sometimes getting the housing out in front of people but I think the buying public should feel positive about what they have, or the home-owning public,” he said
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Ariel Rothfield can be reached at Ariel.Rothfield@KSHB.com.
