For the second straight month, local Realtors reported uncertainty about the state’s real estate market.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) July Realtor Market Index (RMI) was down for the second straight month. The July Realtor Price Index was also down for the second time in the past 12 months.

In July, the Realtor Market Index (RMI) was 28.15, down more than nine points from the 37.89 score recorded in the same month last year. On a month-to-month basis, the July RMI was down less than 1 percent from the June score of 28.36. 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, MAR said.

The Realtor Price Index was down 6.13 percent in July, compared to the same time last year (from 47.43 in 2010 to 50.53 in 2009). On a month-to-month basis, the July index number was up 1.24 percent from the Home Sales Price Index number in June 2010 (46.85).
"Whether it was the heat of July, the end of the tax credit, or the continued uncertainty in the economy, Realtor members are feeling less certain about the market than they did last year or just this past spring," said 2010 MAR President Kevin Sears, broker/co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield. "If prices do go down as the Realtor Price Index would lead us to believe, then the combination of historically low interest rates should be the type of incentive that will bring buyers back into the market."

When Realtor members were asked how many of their clients were able to take advantage of the homebuyer tax credit because of the closing deadline extension (from June 30 to Sept. 30), 29 percent of respondents reported that one to two clients benefited and 18 percent responded that three to four (or more) clients benefited. Forty-six percent responded that none of their clients needed the extension to take advantage of the tax credit, while 7 percent responded that the question was not applicable.