A survey from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) shows that agents’ confidence in the state of the market rose again in June compared to last year.
"Despite the combination of the traditionally slower summer market and interest rates ticking up, Realtor members who answered the survey still felt confident about the market this past June," MAR President Kimberly Allard-Moccia, broker-owner of Century21 Professionals in Braintree, said in a statement.
In June 2013, the Realtor Market Confidence Index was 76.4, which was up 29 percent from the June 2012 score of 59.3. This is the 22nd straight month of year-over-year increases and fifth straight month the RMCI has been over the 70-point mark. On a month-to-month basis, the June RMCI was down eight percent from the 83.08 score in May 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 Realtor Price Confidence Index was 75 in June, up 25 percent from the June 2012 RPCI of 60.06. This is the 17th straight month of year-over-year increases and the fourth straight month over the 70-point mark. On a month-to-month basis, the RPCI was down nine percent from the May 2013 RPCI of 81.95.
MAR also surveyed its agents on the prevalence of cash sales in today’s market, especially in relation to international buyers.
"While realtors who regularly work with international clients are seeing ‘all cash’ deals, they are also reporting that most of the deals are being financed," Allard-Moccia said in a statement.
The monthly "hot topic" question asked MAR members if they regularly work with international buyers and sellers whose primary residence not in the United States. While only a small percent responded "yes," those who did were asked how many of the transactions they were involved in over the past year were "all cash." Of those who answered, 18.5 percent responded either all of the transactions, 3.7 percent, or more than half of the transactions, 14.8 percent, were "all cash." Only 3.7 percent of the respondents selected were evenly split with another 18.5 percent saying less than half of the deals were "all-cash." The biggest group, 59.3 percent, responded that none of the deals in the past year with international clients were "all cash."
