October 2015 Realtors Confidence Index

Each month the National Association of Realtors (NAR) surveys real estate professionals nationwide to get their impression of the housing market.  This report had 2,969 Realtors reply.  As a survey participant, I get a ‘sneak peek’ at the results which will be released soon.

Overall, real estate professionals reported that the market was improved compared to a year ago and that they are “broadly optimistic” for the next six months.   There is stronger buyer and seller traffic compared to a year ago and it is expected that prices will increase “modestly” in the next 12 months.

Nationally, first-time buyers accounted for 31 percent of all sales, sales for investment purposes were 13 percent, distressed sales were 6 percent and cash sales were 24 percent of all sales.

Buyers 34 and under accounted for 28 percent of home sales and nearly half of the buyers were 35-55 years old.  No surprise here, but buyers 56 and older were more likely to purchase a condo while the younger buyers preferred a single-family detached home.

Financing and appraisals are still issues. Only 64 percent of sales were settled on time as reported by survey respondents, 29 percent experienced delays, and 7 percent were terminated.  We should have a better idea of how the new financing guidelines will affect the market over the next two months or so.

Biggest issues to getting closed (delayed but eventually closed)?  18 percent financing, 13 percent inspection issues, 11 percent appraisal issues.  For the 7 percent of sales that did not complete, 32 percent were due to inspection issues and 46 percent due to financing.

Remembering that all real estate is essentially local, this information gives a great general outlook, but you need to be educated in your local market, too.  I just posted a report for the Howell Michigan area, you can watch it here.  If you have questions about the local housing market, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. My contact info is on the right bar of this blog post.

Image courtesy of keerati/freedigitalphotos.net