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sales report August Realtor Market More Than 40% Index from Same Time Last Year Amount of Time it Takes to Complete a Short Sale Continues to be Lengthy t he maSSaChuSettS aSSoCiation of Realtors (MAR) recently announced that realtor members were more confident about the market in August 2011 compared to the same time last year, according to the most recent Realtor Market Index (RMI). They also saw improvement over this past July. The August Realtor Price Index (RPI) was down from both August 2010 and the previous month. When asked about short sales, more than 30% of respondents who completed a short sale in the past 12 months reported that it takes, on average, six months or more to close the transaction. "Based on the results of the survey and hearing from realtor members in the field, the further we got away from talk about the debt ceiling, the better everyone felt about the market in August," says 2011 MAR President-Elect Trisha McCarthy, broker with Keller Williams Realty in Newburyport. "Realtors still believe short sales are taking too long, and the length of time to complete the transaction is hurting the market." In August 2011, the RMI was 28.57, which was up 40.3% from the August 2010 score of 20.36. This is only the second monthly year-over-year increase since May 2010. On a month-to-month basis, the August RMI was up 6.27% from the 26.89 score in July 2011. Measured on a 100-point scale, a score of 50 is the 3 4 | Greater Boston Builder+architect midpoint between "strong" (100 points) and "weak" (0 points) market conditions. In August 2011, the RPI was 39.92 , which was dow n 4 . 4 8% from the August  2010 RPI of 41.79. This is the third straight month of year-over-year decreases. On a month-to-month basis, the RPI was down less than 1% (-0.67%) from the July 2011 RPI of 40.19. Realtor members were asked in August how many of their transactions in the past 12 months had been short sales. Of those who answered "yes," 33% reported having completed one to two short sales; 10% reported three to four short sales; 8% reported five to 10 short sales; and 4% reported 10 or more short sales. Nearly half (46%) responded that they did not have short sales in the past 12 months. For those realtors who completed a short sale, 22% reported it took an average of one to three months to close on the home; 46% reported it took four to six months to close; 25% reported six to 12 months to close; and 7% reported it took more than 12 months, on average, to close a short sale. about the rMi The RMI and RPI are based on monthly responses from a random sampling of Massachusetts Association of Realtors members on the state of the housing market. BoSton.BuilDerarChiteCt.Com More specifically, the survey asks members two basic questions pertaining to the real estate business in their market areas in Massachusetts: "How would you describe the current housing market?" and "What are your expectations of home prices over the next year?" In addition to these standard questions, the survey includes one wild-card question that changes each month and is based on an industry hot topic. The RMI is calculated in the following way: Respondents indicate whether conditions are or are expected to be "strong" (100 points), "moderate" (50 points) or "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 (RPI) is calculated using five categories: "Rise 0-5%" (75 points), "Rise 5%-plus" (100 points), "Level" (50 points), "Fall 0-5%" (25 points), and "Fall >5%" (0 points). Organized in 1924, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors is a professional trade organization with more than 19,000 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. n

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