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After several years of a lean and pricey housing market, real estate agents are starting to see more balance.

In the second quarter of the year, 44% of real estate agents surveyed in CNBC’s Housing Market Survey said they were seeing a balanced market between buyer and seller. That share is up from 30% in the third quarter of last year, when CNBC began its quarterly survey.

“It certainly feels like, depending on the home, depending on the neighborhood, depending on the condition and the price point, that both the buyer and the seller do have a little bit of leverage,” said Jeremy Kane, a real estate agent with EXP Realty in Denver. 

The CNBC Housing Market Survey is a national inquiry of real estate agents selected randomly across the United States. Responses for the second-quarter survey were collected between June 23 and June 30. This quarter, 53 agents shared their insights.

Home sales in May were up slightly, 3% higher than the same month last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. That was the result of more supply on the market and easing prices. 

Sellers appear to be getting more realistic when pricing their homes, not expecting the huge jumps seen in the first two years of the pandemic.

“No one really seems to be fighting me much on price like they used to,” said Bruce Jones, an agent with Compass in Nashville, Tennessee. “We’re not really seeing huge decreases in prices. We’ve kind of plateaued, but I don’t see people arguing too much about that. If it’s priced correctly, it is moving.”

Agents who reported at least one price cut to active listings dropped dramatically in CNBC’s second-quarter survey, at 57% compared with 89% during the third quarter of 2025. 

Home prices are still slightly higher than they were a year ago, up just under 1%, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller national home price index. Sellers, however, seem to be pricing more to the market, resulting in fewer cuts. 

Asking prices in June were down 2.5% year over year, according to Realtor.com. That is the largest annual drop since the company began tracking this in 2017 and the eighth straight month of declines.

“I always tell sellers that I’m in the business of selling homes, not storing them, and so you really need to put a property at the right price in order to get it sold,” said Martha Thorn, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Tampa, Florida.

With asking prices more in line with…

The U.S. deficit with its global trading partners nearly doubled in November as the shortfall with the European Union swelled and the impact of President Donald Trump‘s tariffs worked their way through the economy, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

Following a month where the trade deficit hit its lowest level since early 2009, it shot up to $56.8 billion, an increase of 94.6% from October. Of that gain, about one-third came with the European Union, where the goods deficit rose by $8.2 billion. The goods deficit with China decreased by about $1 billion to $13.9 billion.

On a year-over-year basis, the deficit through November stood at $839.5 billion, or about 4% higher than the same period in 2024.

The increase in the deficit counters Trump’s efforts to use tariffs to reduce imbalances around the globe. When announcing so-called reciprocal tariffs in April 2025, the White House used the level of trade deficits with varying countries as a baseline for determining the duties.

As the year went by, Trump softened his stance. A framework agreement between the U.S. and the EU in August put the tariff rate at 15% on most European goods and sought to stabilize relations between the two sides.

DETROIT — General Motors is proving to be a star tightrope walker when it comes to balancing its profits, vehicle portfolio and political whiplashing under the Trump administration.

The Detroit automaker’s 2025 results propelled GM’s stock Tuesday to a new record high as the company beat earnings expectations and projected an even better 2026, including a 20% increase in its dividend and a new $6 billion stock buyback authorization.

Those kinds of results are nothing new for GM, but Wall Street analysts say the company is drawing more investor interest than its peers amid the U.S. auto industry’s slowing sales, political turmoil and tariffs.

“GM stands out for strong execution, proven resilience, high earnings quality (i.e. strong [free cash flow] amid inventory de-stock), capital allocation and a unique NA Truck Franchise sporting far better fundamentals vs. traditional passenger auto,” TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a Tuesday investor note.

Shares of GM are up more than 70% during the past year, with multiple Wall Street analysts raising their price targets to record levels after earnings, including TD Cowen, which raised its target Tuesday by 10% to $122 per share.

GM is also increasingly standing out from its closest U.S. rivals Ford Motor and Stellantis when it comes to earnings performance and capital execution, according to many analysts.

“We rate GM Overweight for its best-in-class execution amongst North America–based auto OEMs, consistent management team and strategy, and strong product portfolio allowing for above-industry pricing and margin,” JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman wrote in a Tuesday investor note.

Ford’s shares are up more than 35% during the past year, but its adjusted earnings forecast for the year is roughly half of what GM reported for 2025. Its adjusted free cash flow expectations also are billions below GM’s in recent years.

U.S.-listed shares of Stellantis, which is going through a major restructuring, are off roughly 27% over the past year. The company’s results have largely disappointed Wall Street recently, as it attempts to focus on a U.S. turnaround.

GM’s 2025 results included results included $2.7 billion in net income attributable to stockholders, or earnings per share of $3.27; adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $12.7 billion, or $10.60 per share; and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $10.6 billion.

Part of what’s set GM apart has been its ability to navigate through political uncertainty under U.S. President Donald Trump.

The biggest challenge for the automotive industry as a whole has been increased costs due to tariffs and inflation. GM expects tariffs will cost it $3.5 billion and inflation will be a $1.25 billion,…

The U.S. housing market has yet to pick up steam into 2026, but real estate agents say there’s been a real shift toward a more balanced market, according to the quarterly CNBC Housing Market Survey.

Mortgage rates didn’t move much at all in the last quarter of 2025, but home prices are steadily easing. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage dropped sharply in the third quarter but then stabilized between 6.2% and 6.4% during the fourth quarter, leaving some buyers on the sidelines with no incentive to jump in.

Now, there are early signs of what could be more activity ahead.

“The buyers I have seen have been buying because of life circumstances, whether it’s having a baby or moving for a job or retiring or downsizing,” said Ashley Rummage, a real estate agent in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Of the real estate agents surveyed by CNBC in the fourth quarter, 37.5% said it was a balanced market, rather than the buyer’s market they reported seeing in the third quarter. That is up from 30% as of the third quarter and is likely because consumers became less confident in the economy as job losses grew. 

“The people who had been moving and the momentum that we had were definitely slowed down, far, far less by interest rates than the intrinsic factors, the cost of living,” said Heather Dell, a real estate agent in Detroit. “Homeowners insurance, car insurance and utilities and medical insurance are the top objections that I hear when a buyer talks about buying.”

The CNBC Housing Market Survey is a national inquiry of real estate agents selected randomly across the United States. Responses for the fourth-quarter survey were collected between Dec. 10 and Dec. 17. This quarter, 72 agents shared their insights.

While the majority of agents said it is still a buyer’s market due to easing prices and more inventory for sale, some agents noted that their buyers and sellers still have very different expectations.

“Buyers tend to think that the market is like 2008 and sellers tend to think that the market is closer to 2021, 2022, and those are diametrically opposed markets and diametrically opposed mindsets,” said John Fragola, a real estate agent in Charleston, South Carolina. 

Of course, 2008 was the start of the subprime mortgage crisis, which led to the Great Recession and housing crash, when the market was flooded with distressed homes, giving buyers all the power. Meanwhile, 2021 came shortly after the start of the Covid pandemic, when there was a buying frenzy and inventory dropped to record lows, giving sellers all the power.

The balance in the market now is likely coming due to easing prices.

More agents, 92%, reported having at least one seller cut their price in the fourth quarter, compared with 89% in the previous quarter, according…

The electoral victory for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in a key state is set to pave the way for New Delhi to make farm-related concessions, a central demand of U.S. trade negotiators.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), is poised for landslide victory in Bihar with trends showing it leading in nearly 200 of the 243 seats, while the opposition is ahead in less than 30 seats, data from India’s election commission shows.

A strong and positive verdict from Bihar — India’s third most populous state and a large producer of corn — is expected to encourage the government to conclude a trade deal with the U.S. Such a deal would include purchases of more agricultural products from the U.S., said Amitendu Palit, senior research fellow and research lead at the Institute of South Asian Studies.

However, these purchases of farm products from the U.S. will be “couched in a manner that does not suggest that the government is going to back away on its commitment to domestic farmers,” he said.

Indian exports to the U.S. currently face some of the highest tariffs, of 50%, but the two sides have been engaged in negotiations for a “fair trade deal.”

In September, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of India, calling trade ties with the country “a totally one-sided disaster!” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later asserted this position in an interview with Axios stating “India brags about having 1.4 billion people but won’t buy even a small amount of American corn.”

During Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Washington in late September, Indian officials reportedly acknowledged that “fresh offers have been made,” including discussions to buy corn for ethanol production.

While several rounds of trade negotiations have occurred between the two countries, and U.S. has since softened its stance with Trump even hinting that Washington will reduce tariffs on India, a trade deal has been elusive.

The Indian government is waiting for the Bihar elections to end to finalise a trade deal with the U.S., said Praveen Jagwani, CEO of UTI International, adding that New Delhi has made some concessions around farm related issues.

Despite trade negotiation pressures, substantial barriers to U.S. corn imports persist, S&P Global said in a note on Oct 2.  

India has banned genetically modified crop imports and 94% of U.S. corn consists of GMO varieties, S&P noted adding that India’s tariff structure “imposes a 15% duty on corn imports up to 500,000 mt, with rates jumping to 50% beyond that threshold.”

Easing of these terms could raise “dumping concerns that could impact domestic farmers” S&P…

NFL MVP Josh Allen has left Nike to sign an endorsement deal with New Balance.

The Buffalo Bills quarterback announced the news on Friday in a letter to his hometown of Firebaugh, California. The deal is a major win for Massachusetts-based New Balance.

Allen has been a Nike athlete since he joined the league in 2018. The swoosh has faced headwinds in recent years as innovation slowed and sales declined.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but New Balance has committed to funding the Firebaugh community youth sports program as part of the agreement.

“I’m proud to share I’m joining the New Balance family, a brand that, like Firebaugh, is built on family, community and authenticity,” Allen said in the letter.

Firebaugh is not only where Allen grew up, but also where he first trained and developed his passion for football, he said.

“Firebaugh didn’t have quarterback camps or private trainers. We had heart. We had community. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” Allen said in the letter.

Allen is one of the league’s biggest stars and has led the Bills to the playoffs for six straight years. He was also featured in HBO’s “Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Buffalo Bills,” which aired its finale on Tuesday.

New Balance, which has rapidly expanded its athlete roster, also represents other big-name stars such as tennis player Coco Gauff, MLB’s Shohei Ohtani and the WNBA’s Cameron Brink.

“As New Balance continues to grow its football family, we’re honored to welcome Josh Allen on the field and in the community, helping lead the next chapter,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Allen also announced he was joining Therabody as the fitness recovery brand’s first-ever Performance Advisor.