The weakened economy coupled with low home appraisals caused local Realtors’ confidence in the Massachusetts real estate market to dwindle in July.

The July Realtor Price Index (RPI) was down from July 2010, but up from this past June. More than half of the Realtors who responded to the survey felt that less than full-priced appraisals impacted sales.

"Concerns about the debt ceiling and potential consequences to the economy had an impact on how Realtors felt about the real estate market in July," said 2011 MAR President Laurie Cadigan, broker/owner of Barrett & Co. in Concord. "While Realtors were more positive about prices this past month compared to June; low appraisals are a challenge and continue to impact sales."

In July, the Realtors Market Index (RMI) was down 4.49 percent from the July. On a month-to-month basis, the July RMI was down 7.82 percent from June 2011.

When Realtor members were asked if sales in their offices had been impacted by less than full-price appraisals in 2011, the response was split down the middle (51 percent yes vs. 49 percent no). Of those who answered yes, 44 percent reported less than full-price appraisals impacted three to four sales; 31 percent reported one to two sales; 18 percent reported five to 10 sales; and 9 percent reported 10 or more sales.