For the fourth straight month, local Realtors’ confidence in the real estate market has declined.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) reported the September Realtor Market Index (RMI) was down for the fourth straight month compared to the same time last year. While the September Realtor Price Index (RPI) was also down again for the third straight month, it was up compared to this past August.

"Uncertainty continues to be the theme echoed by Realtor members who responded to the September housing survey," said 2010 MAR President Kevin Sears, broker/co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield. "While their expectations on prices are down from last year, when activity amidst the first-time homebuyer tax credit was gaining critical mass, the RPI is up from August, most likely due to dropping interest rates."

In September, the Realtor Market Index was 19.39, which was 51.42 percent lower than the 39.91 score recorded in September 2009. On a month-to-month basis, the September 2010 RMI was down 3.06 percent from the August 2010 score of 20. Measured on a 100-point scale, a score of 50 is the midpoint between a "strong" (100 points) and a "weak" (0 points) market condition.

The Realtor Price Index was down 12.69 percent in September 2010 compared to the same time last year (48.89 in 2009 to 42.69 in 2010). On a month-to-month basis the September index number was up 2.15 percent from the August Home Sales Price Index number of 41.79.

When Realtor members were asked how the number of agents in their office had changed from the same time last year, 23 percent responded that the number of agents in their office had either significantly increased (7 percent) or somewhat increased (16 percent). Thirty-three percent responded that the number of agents had either somewhat decreased (26 percent) or significantly decreased (7 percent), while 45 percent of the respondents reported that the office size had stayed about the same.