Massachusetts Home Buyers Gobbled Up Homes for Sale in November

REALTORS® report new closing procedures from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are generally working well

WALTHAM, Mass. – December 09, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that home sellers were thankful for strong buyer activity in November as pending home sales were up close to 40 percent compared to the same month last year. REALTORS’® confidence in the market was high in November as the REALTOR® Market Confidence Index was up significantly from the same time last year. This month’s “Hot Topic” question finds that REALTORS® feel closing procedures issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are working as well or better than expected.

November Pending Sales:

• Pending sales have been up 32 of the last 33 months

• Pending sales have been up 32 of the last 33 months

“The momentum continues, as pending home sales went up again for the 32nd time in the last 33 months,” said 2015 MAR President Corinne Fitzgerald, broker/owner of FITZGERALD Real Estate in Greenfield. “We’ve seen such strong buyer activity this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this momentum carry into 2016.”

REALTOR® Market and Price Confidence Indexes:

• The RMCI was up for the eighth straight month
• The RPCI was up for the third straight month
• 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

Monthly ‘Hot Topic’ Question:

The November “Hot Topic” question asked REALTORS® how the new closing procedures implemented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (called “TRID” or Truth-in-Lending RESPA Integrated Disclosure) have been going since they went live on October 3, 2015. Of those REALTORS® who responded, 29 percent have reported that closings have either gone significantly smoother (4%) or somewhat smoother (25%) than anticipated. Thirty-five percent of respondents have seen no difference from the previous closing procedures, while 36 percent feel closings have been somewhat more difficult (30%) than anticipated or significantly more difficult than anticipated (6%).

“So far we’re seeing the new closing procedures are moving along well and consumers are really seeing a difference,” said Fitzgerald. “REALTORS® have done a lot of training to be prepared. And because of this training we have been able to guide our clients more successfully through the process.”

About the Data Sets:
The tracking of signed purchase and sales agreements (also called “pending sales”) provide reliable information about where the real estate market is heading in coming months.

A pending sale or a sale “under agreement” happens when the buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale of a home and have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close and be recorded as such.  MAR is the only organization, which compiles this statewide information from Multiple Listing Services each month.

Monthly pending (or under agreement) data and closed sales data comes from the three REALTOR®-affiliated Multiple Listing Services in Massachusetts. They are the Berkshire County Multiple Listing Service, Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service, Inc.; and MLS Property Information Network, Inc. The data is compiled by 10K Research and Marketing, Inc. and updated each month. As a result, previous data may change after the reports have been run.

The REALTOR® Index Methodology – The Massachusetts REALTOR® Market Confidence Index (RMCI) and Price Confidence Index (RPCI) are based on monthly responses from a random sampling of Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® members on the state of the housing market.  More specifically, the survey asks members two basic questions pertaining to the real estate business in their market area in Massachusetts.

• How would you describe the current housing market?
• What are your expectations of home prices over the next year?

In addition to these standard questions, the survey each month includes one wildcard question that changes each month and is based on an industry hot topic.

The RMCI is calculated in the following way.  Respondents indicate whether conditions are, or are expected to be “strong” (100 points), “moderate” (50 points), and “weak” (0 points).  The results are the average score for each question.  A score of 50 is the threshold between a “strong” and a “weak” condition.  Similarly, the question about home prices over the next year (REALTOR® Price Confidence Index) is calculated using five categories: “Rise 0-5%” (75 points), “Rise 5%+” (100 points), “Level” (50 points), “Fall 0-5%” (25 points), and “Fall >5%” (0 points).

About the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®:

Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® is a professional trade organization with more than 21,000+ members.  The term REALTOR® is registered as the exclusive designation of members of the National Association of REALTORS® who subscribe to a strict code of ethics and enjoy continuing education programs.

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Editors and reporters: Please note that the term Realtor is properly spelled with an initial capital “R”, per the Associated Press Stylebook.

Eric Berman – eberman (at) marealtor (dot) com – 781-839-5507 | Dec 08, 2015