Lowe’s (LOW) CEO Marvin Ellison said on Wednesday that the housing market still appeared to be “locked in” due to macro issues such as high mortgage rates, a lack of new construction, inflationary pressures, and consumer uncertainty about the economy.
In a CNBC interview on Wednesday following the release of Lowe’s Q4 earnings report, Ellison said his company was “still dealing with a housing market that does not have a lot of tailwind.”
“For us, the greatest fuel for the home improvement industry is when you decide to put your house on the market…because the first thing you do when you put it on the market is you fix up your yard, you repair your fence, you paint your walls, you do simple beautification modifications in your home,” Ellison added.
Here’s what other CEOs, analysts, and President Trump have said recently about the current state of the housing market.
Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail:
In an interview following the release of Home Depot’s (HD) Q4 report on Tuesday, McPhail said the housing market was still “frozen.”
“What we’ve seen as an added pressure during the last year has been this increase in consumer uncertainty, a gradual decline in consumer confidence,” McPhail added.
According to Bloomberg, McPhail also commented that “the homeowner is one of the healthiest customer cohorts out there, but they tell us that uncertainty is growing, that there’s concern around housing affordability, around job losses.”
Redfin:
In a report released Monday, Redfin said there were approximately 44% more home sellers than buyers in January, up 30% from the same period in 2025 and the second largest gap since records dating back to 2013.
“Homebuyers are backing off due to stubbornly high home prices and mortgage rates, layoffs, and mounting economic and political uncertainty. Winter storms also swept much of the U.S. in January, which may have dampened sales,” Redfin said.
“Sellers, many of whom are buyers themselves, are backing off in response to lackluster demand for their homes. Some sellers are delisting after watching their homes sit on the market for months with zero bites from buyers, while others are choosing not to list at all after seeing nearby homes sell for below the asking price,” Redfin added.
President Donald Trump:
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Trump linked issues in the housing market to interest rates.
“Lower interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem, while at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house that really feel rich for the first time in their lives,” Trump said in his speech.
Seeking Alpha analyst Daniel Jones:
In a recent article on homebuilder stocks, Jones said he sees a near-term drop in home prices.
“I do expect home prices to drop and for home buying activity to likely pull back. And if that comes to pass, there could be some short-term pain. But because of the robust catalyst that exists here in the form of a growing population, several years of underbuilding, and declining interest rates that should make homes more affordable, I believe that those with the long-term outlook would be wise to consider this space,” Jones wrote.
Notable homebuilder stocks: KB Home (KBH), Pulte (PHM), D.R. Horton (DHI), NVR (NVR), Lennar (LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL), Meritage Homes (MTH)
Notable homebuilder ETFs: iShares Residential and Multisector Real Estate (REZ), State Street SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB), iShares US Home Construction (ITB)