Home Brokers Surveyed on Confidence and Market Behavior

Home brokers and real estate agents surveyed by Point2 Technologies in September were less confident about their careers and the future, compared to their confidence level in August. However, they remained optimistic if all factors were considered.

The confidence level of brokers and real estate agents in September was 5.83, above the middle point of a scale of 1 to 10 designed by Point2 and named Real Estate Confidence Index.

The 5.83 level was slightly lower than the 5.88 registered in the August survey. It marked the first drop in the index since Point2 launched it in June.

The index also measures the sentiments of brokers and real estate agents in the current period, near-term and in the long-term.

Current sentiment averaged 5.06, an improvement from the August average of 4.96 and from the June level of 4.76. Short-term sentiment averaged 5.7, a decrease from the August level of 5.8 and the June level of 5.74. Short-term refers to the outlook of real estate agents for the next 3 to 6 months.

Long-term sentiment averaged 6.72, again a decline from the August level of 6.88.

A total of 2,493 home brokers and real estate agents in the U.S., Guam and Puerto Rico participated in the survey. They are users of web site platforms including the Point2 real estate agent listing syndication system.

Many brokers and real estate agents in California, where the foreclosure rate is higher than most states, observed that houses are selling faster because of lower prices and mortgage rates and because of attractive government home buying assistance programs.

They also observed that short sales move faster if the lenders are the smaller lenders, and not the big banks such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America. They added that one effective strategy in promoting multiple offers is to offer below-market prices on bank-owned foreclosure homes.

Many real estate agents in Florida said that despite the high number of home sales in the state, their commissions are low because of the heavily discounted prices of properties in Florida. Florida brokers also observed that bank-owned homes and short sales are in high demand.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, agents said that the declining economic situation in the state has been pushing lots of foreclosures into the market. Home brokers added their sales activity is not clear-cut, getting multiple offers in some houses while not getting any in other properties.