Homeowners Starting to Feel Strain From New Tax Law

In affluent Westchester County, N.Y., the Trump administration's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is having a chilling effect on local home prices.

Sales county-wide dropped 18 percent in the second quarter of this year, with median prices dropped between five and 13 percent in some Westchester towns. Local agents report that houses priced between $1.5 million to $3 million are the most vulnerable, and property attorney Matthew Roach adds, We all think next year is going to be a tough year for real estate sales,” Bloomberg reports. The share of homes listed for sale in the county increased about five percent annually, and homes priced between $2 million to $2.49 million had a 26 percent inventory gain.

This has become a summer of discontent for those trying to sell their homes in New York City’s leafy suburbs -- in no small part because of the Trump administration. In affluent enclaves in Westchester County, New Jersey and Connecticut, a federal cap on state and local property tax deductions has begun to bite hard. Longtime homeowners who dreamed of offloading their empty nests are finding their plans complicated by the tax bill, as would-be buyers hold back, expecting sellers to cut their prices.

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