Decades of price gains have left tens of millions of U.S. homeowners in high-cost markets facing potential capital gains taxes reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars on the sale of their primary homes. And the risk is spreading to wider markets, especially fast-growing ones, a new report says.
Real estate professionals and analysts say this may be putting many homeowners on hold, adding to the nationwide housing shortage and worsening affordability pressures in recent years. They point to a nearly 30-year-old capital gains tax exemption law as one contributing factor.
