Steve Murray talks presidential candidates’ housing policies and M&A Trends

This week on the RealTrending podcast, Tracey Velt sits down with Steve Murray, founder of RealTrends and a senior advisor for HousingWire.

Steve and Tracey discuss the key points from the latest RealTrends GameChangers report on brokerage growth and compare the housing policies and their potential impacts of both the Harris and Trump campaigns. They also examine current activity in the M&A landscape, including valuation trends.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Leaders must always be personally involved in recruiting talent.
• Most successful brokerages combine acquisitions with organic growth.
• The M&A market is active at both the local and regional levels.
• Valuations are based on EBITDA multiples and gross margins.
• Housing policies from candidates can significantly impact secondary sectors of the housing market.
• Housing sales are expected to improve in the next 12 months.

Here’s a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Tracey Velt: Right now am running a poll I asked the question, which candidates housing policies do you think would be best for the country? Right now, 30% say neither. I thought that was interesting. Trump has about 50 % and Harris has the rest.

But Harris has been the one who actually has put out a little bit of a more detailed plan than Trump. So give me your opinion on each candidate’s policies and what you think could be successful.

Steve Murray: I dont know that I’ve actually read any detailed bullet points of the Trump campaign specifically targeting housing. He has talked about things that will affect construction, sales, those kinds of things. Clearly, if you have a stronger non-inflationary economy, that’s good for housing construction and housing sales.

I saw he came out the other day and he wants to loosen up the salt deduction state and local tax. What does that mean? Deductions from your federal taxes, which raise the after-tax cost of housing in high-tax areas. If he raises that limit, then that would tend to help housing in those high-tax states, right? That’s about the only thing he said that will have a direct bearing on it.

The RealTrending podcast features the brightest minds in real estate. Every week, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.