REALTORS® Are Still Broadly Confident About the Outlook in the Next Six Months

Local market conditions vary, but REALTORS^® remained by and large “strongly” confident about the outlook over the next six months for single-family homes, according to the September 2015 REALTORS® Confidence Index survey report.[1] The following maps show the REALTORS^® Confidence Index - Six-Month Outlook across property types by state.

The outlook for single-family homes was broadly “strong” across most states and was most upbeat in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and South Dakota. California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado are experiencing strong job growth and population migration, while Texas and North Dakota appear to be resilient amid the fall in oil prices (Map 1).[2]

In the townhomes market, markets were broadly “strong” in the West region and in Florida, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (Map 2).

However, the condominium market remains broadly “weak” in many states, but was strong in California, Oregon, Washington, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Florida (Map 3). REALTORS^® have reported difficulty in accessing condominium unit purchase financing for both FHA-insured and the GSE-backed loans. Only 20 percent of condominiums are eligible for FHA condominium unit financing because of strict eligibility criteria such as those pertaining to occupancy requirements and delinquency dues.[3]

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[1] Respondents were asked “What are your expectations for the housing market over the next six months compared to the current state of the market in the neighborhood(s) or area(s) where you make most of your sales?”

[2] The market outlook for each state is based on data for the last three months to increase the observations for each state. Small states such as AK, ND, SD, MT, VT, WY, WV, DE, and D.C., may have less than 30 observations.

[3] http://www.realtor.org/topics/condominiums/condominium-resource-book