Republican tax bill likely curtailed 2018 home sales, Fed economists say 

Republican tax reform that capped mortgage and property deductions has curtailed the housing market, according to a blog post from economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. While a 7.6% decline in the sales of new single-family homes from 2017’s fourth quarter through the end of 2018’s third quarter could be attributed to a 70 basis point rise in mortgage rates, the drop was larger than periods of similar rate gains in 2013 and 2016.