REALTORS® Report Strong Market Outlook for Next Six Months Across All States

In the March 2015 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey, REALTORS® reported they were increasingly more confident about the housing outlook in the next six months compared to the case in February and a year ago.[1] The seasonal uptick in market activity during spring and summer, the low interest rate environment, and recent initiatives such as the reduction in FHA mortgage insurance premium (by 0.5 percentage points) and down payment  requirements (from 5 percent to 3 percent) for GSE-backed loans are likely underpinning the higher confidence.

The following map shows the REALTOR® Confidence Index-Six-Month-Outlook by state for single family homes based on data gathered from January-March 2015.[2]  An index above 50 indicates that more REALTOR® respondents had “strong” outlook compared to those who had “weak” outlook.  All states registered an index greater than 50. The local real estate markets in Texas, North Dakota, and Louisiana which are facing a slump in oil prices are still broadly strong, with the index above 75.  Most local real estate markets in Wyoming and Oklahoma are also experiencing “strong” markets, with indexes above 50.

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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 3 months to increase the observations for each state. Small states such as AK,ND, SD, MT, VT, WY, WV, DE, and the D.C. may have less than 30 observations.