Real Estate
Axing Capital Gains Tax on Homes Would Benefit California’s Rich
President Donald Trump has floated an idea supporters say would help unlock inventory in the frozen housing market. But data show the benefits would accrue primarily for the wealthy.
An "Open House" sign in front of a home for sale in Los Angeles.
Photographer: Eric Thayer/BloombergPresident Donald Trump offered little more than a vague “we’re thinking about that” when asked recently about scrapping capital gains taxes on home sales in a bid to unlock the nation’s stagnant housing market.
But that utterance was enough to get experts crunching data to figure out what exactly such a policy, which would significantly change exemption levels in place since 1997, might mean for the $50 trillion US housing market.