Peering Through the Fog

There are more and more positive signs that the fog is starting to clear in the residential real estate market.   Gone are the dense, pea-soup like conditions from a couple of months ago that caused buyers and sellers to try and drive through it at 5 mph.  It appears that they’ve put their collective feet on the accelerator and are now driving more confidently, albeit still with the headlights on. 

Point2 Technologies, Inc., the largest independent provider of website and listing syndication solutions for the real estate industry, with users in over 100 countries on its platform, released its Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) for August 2009 this past week.  Over 3,000 real estate professionals covering every U.S. State, Puerto Rico and Guam contributed to this month’s report.  Charts of their findings are shown below:

On a seasonally adjusted basis, how would you rate current market conditions in your area?  (1=Bad; 10=Good)

(This month’s rating shows over a 26% increase in confidence since June of this year.)

How optimistic or pessimistic are you about the housing market in the near term (the next 3 to 6 months)?  (1=pessimistic; 10=optimistic)

How optimistic or pessimistic are you about the housing market in the longer term (next 12 to 18 months)?  (1=pessimistic; 10=optimistic)

The RECI was created by Point2 earlier this year to help the residential real estate industry fill a missing link in real estate intelligence by capturing the current, near-term and long-term sentiment of the people most attuned to market conditions; real estate professionals.

Saul Klein, Point2′s CEO explains,

“The feet-on-the-ground perspective only real estate professionals possess is critically important to understanding where the market is, where it is heading and it simply cannot be captured by traditional measures.  The Real Estate Confidence Index provides a window into the market that did not exist before.”

He goes on to say, 

“Since the beginning of real estate time, at backyard barbeques and in neighborly conversations, consumers have asked real estate professionals the same question: ‘How’s the market and where do you think it’s headed?’  The Real Estate Confidence Index reflects the collective answer of thousands of informed professionals across the country.”

More information on the RECI can be found at www.realestateconfidenceindex.com.

Do these latest findings mean that we can start driving without our headlights on?  I don’t think so.  However, it appears that we may be able to switch to our parking lights in the very near future.

Related articles of interest:

• Pending home sales hit 6th straight increase (money.cnn.com)
• July new U.S. home sales up 9.6% (thestar.com)
• Housing affordability improves, RBC says (cbc.ca)
• Home resales rebound dramatically: real estate body (ctv.ca)