As we prepare to tuck 2025 into the history books, let’s take a look back at the year to highlight some of the Hits and Misses that dominated the real estate industry.
Hit: The Property Tax Revolt. The year’s biggest story, by far, was the spontaneous eruption of anger over property taxes. None of this was coordinated or financed by a partisan organization. Instead, this occurred in grassroots efforts by homeowners pressuring their elected officials to address property tax levels that have become too onerous for comfort. Some politicians, most notably Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, embraced and touted the notion of eliminating property taxes completely (although they were intentionally vague on the revenue sourcing that would replace the potentially abolished taxes). Other leaders, most notably Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, were agitated by growing calls to abolish property taxes and tried to serve up half-measures to make life easier for homeowners. Many of the 2026 state- and city-level elections could easily be determined by this issue, and those demanding change are showing no signs of backing down.
Hit and Miss: The Trump Administration. The return of the Donald Trump to the White House got off to a quick start thanks to corybantic efforts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut bureaucratic waste across the Executive Branch. Overstuffed employee rolls, questionable DEI policies, and dubious accounting practices were put under the Musk microscope, marking the first time that anyone could recall that the federal government was being reduced. Also commendable was the reversal of Biden-era Green New Deal policies that added onerous regulatory burdens to the housing market. Unfortunately, as the year progressed the Trump administration became distracted with too many problems of its own creation, most notably a chaos-stirring tariff policy that seemed to be driven by presidential whims, vicious personal attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and the dismal efforts to punish Trump’s political enemies with accusations of mortgage fraud that are not holding up to Justice Department scrutiny. (And let’s not get started on the disastrous shenanigans by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, thank you.) The year is ending with no clear plans on the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while promises of housing affordability plan are supposedly going to be unveiled sometime in early 2026. Hopefully, the vigorous energy and sharper focus of the administration’s first few weeks will be reanimated in the new year.
Hit and Miss: California’s Housing Market. California’s year began with parts of Los Angeles County on fire and ended with devastating flooding across the state – but in between those disasters, statewide home sales were at a three-year high. The news from California throughout the year was a wild mix of good and bad, with a growing level of homeownership affordability while the state-run fire insurance program for property owners proposed rates hikes by an average of 35.8% starting next spring. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who seemed more interested in his self-promoting antics than on the needs of his constituents, is not eligible for re-election in 2026, and none of the candidates vying to replace him have offered a serious platform to address the state’s housing problems. However, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is running for re-election, and let’s see if voters will put her back in office after her disastrous handling of the wildfires and the recovery effort.
Hit: Pushing Back on Stadium Mania. This year saw the continued insistence by state and municipal governments to finagle public funding of new sports stadiums that will be owned by billion-dollar teams that are more than capable of financing their own construction. However, two thumbs up go to officials in Illinois and Ohio who are not willing to open the public coffers and allow the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns to take taxpayer dollars so their players can toss around footballs in state-of-the-art domed stadiums. Considering how many elected officials are too eager to bend over backwards to accommodate billionaire sports team owners – we saw that this week in Kansas – the pushback against the sense of entitlement by the Bears and Browns is truly refreshing.
Hit: Selling a Mess. If we had to nominate a real estate professional for salesperson of the year, we would most likely choose Rob Missenden of Denovans Real Estate in Australia. Back in January, Missenden marketed a residence in suburban Brisbane that could charitably be described as a catastrophe – a two-bedroom property with broken windows covered with cardboard, peeling walls spraypainted with graffiti, closets that are missing doors, and a surplus amount of garbage inside and outside. (The photo at the top of the article is the house.) Missenden advertised the property with the cheeky headline “Renovate or Detonate,” and a listing price at $699,000 that seemed out of whack with the rubbish heap he was promoting. But according to RealEstate.com.au, local builder Luke Anderson of EJ Hall Constructions happily took the bait, buying the property for $700,000. “It would cost you maybe $20,000 or $30,000 to get rid of everything, whereas you could spend maybe $100,000 to tidy it up a bit,” Anderson said. “You can’t buy a house in that area for $800,000, really.”
Hit: The Real Estate Professionals. Ultimately, the year’s top winners are the real estate professionals who have persevered through economic challenges, industry uncertainties, and unfavorable publicity generated by a very small number of bad players in the industry. This is a great profession populated by hard-working, smart, and sincere people who devote their energies to helping people achieve the American Dream of Homeownership. For those professionals, we salute you and look forward to working with you in 2026 and beyond.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
