Realtors’ confidence in the continued improvement of the local real estate market was at an all time high in February according to a report from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR).
Both MAR’s Realtor Market Confidence Index (RMCI) and its Realtor Price Confidence Index (RPCI) were up in February compared to 2012, with the RMCI hitting an all-time high of 71.82. This is only the second time since the data has been tracked that the RMCI was higher than the RPCI.
February’s RMCI was up 82 percent from February 2012’s score of 39.47. This is the 19th straight month of year-over-year increases. On a month-to-month basis, the February RMCI was up 11 percent from the 65.00 score in January 2013. 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 high level of confidence that Realtors continue to possess about the current real estate market conditions is encouraging as we enter the spring market," said 2013 MAR President Kimberly Allard-Moccia, broker-owner of Century21 Professionals in Braintree, in a statement.
The RPCI was 69.55 in February, which was up 27 percent from the February 2012 RPCI of 54.78. This is the 13th straight month of year-over-year increases and the 10th straight month the RPCI has been over the 60-point mark. On a month-to-month basis, the RPCI was down 8.22 percent from the January 2013 RPCI of 75.78. This was the first month since May 2010 and the home buyer tax credit that the RPCI was lower than the Market Confidence Index (RCMI 39.49 vs. RCPI 38.38).
A majority of Realtors who responded to MAR’s survey believed that the snowy February had a negative impact on the real estate market, with 14 percent of respondents believing there would be a significant negative impact on the market, and 37 percent responded there would be a moderate negative impact on the market. Thirty-five percent felt there would be no change from the current trend. Two percent responded there would be a significant positive impact on the market and 11 percent responded there would be a moderate positive impact on the market.
