Monthly, the National Association of REALTORS ® (NAR) Confidence Index (RCI) provides information on local real estate market conditions, the characteristics of buyers and sellers, issues affecting homeownership and real estate transactions.

Take a look at some of the highlights of NAR’s April 2019 RCI findings:

  1. Market Conditions and Expectations
    1. The Buyer Traffic Index came in at 63 compared to 74 in April 2018.
      The Seller Traffic Index came in at 47 compared to 45 in April 2018.
    2. Confidence Index – a 6-month outlook
      1. 67 for single-family housing
      2. 56 for townhomes
      3. 53 for condominium properties
      4. Any score over 50 indicates that the market is expected to improve
      5. Days on the Market (DOM) came in at 24 days, down from 26 days in April 2018
      6. 82% of all survey respondents indicated that home prices remained constant or increased in April 2019 compared with 88% in April 2018
  1. Characteristics of Buyers and Sellers
    1. First-time buyers represented 32% of all sales compared with 33% in April 2018
    2. Vacation and investment buyers represented 16% of all sales in April 2019 compared with 14% in April 2018
    3. Cash sales represented 20% of all sales in April 2019 compared with 21% in April 2018
    4. Sales of distressed properties represented just 3% of all sales in April 2019 compared with 4% in April 2018
  2. Issues Affecting Buyers and Sellers
    1. “Low inventory” and “construction” were the top two major issues affecting buyer and seller transactions in April 2019
    2. 76% of all contracts were settled “on time” from February 2019 to April 2019 compared with 78% in April 2018
    3. 74% of all closed contracts that settled in April 2019 had contract contingencies. Those contract contingencies included
      1. 54% contingencies due to home inspections
      2. 43% contingencies due to obtaining financing
      3. 41% contingencies due to obtaining an acceptable appraisal

The RCI survey was sent out to 50,000 Realtors who were selected from the total NAR membership of 1.3M.

 

One interesting sidebar from this survey indicates that 80% of Realtors are “very certain” they would remain active in the real estate industry for two more years.

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