The housing market’s long winter faces a slow thaw and many unknowns

News Snapshot:

Since the election, several major builders have warned Trump’s proposals could crimp their business. The higher tariffs he’s already unveiled on steel and aluminum, set to take effect next month, and new ones on Chinese goods that are already in force could add thousands of dollars to home prices, industry executives say. “Whether it’s steel or any of the other tariffs relative to our friends to the north or to the south, we do expect some cost pressure from some of that,” said Curt VanHyfte, CFO of the homebuilding firm Taylor Morrison, on a Feb. 12 earnings call. But he...