How much confidence do Realtors have in their local markets?  The Real Estate Confidence Index answers that question.

The people who host my website, Point2Agent, conducts a monthly survey of its thousands of members across North America to determine how real estate professionals see the current and future market conditions in their respective areas.

The survey receives over 3,000 responses monthly from every area of the country across many different types of markets.  Respondents rate their markets on a scale of 1 to 10, showing their confidence level in local real estate markets over the short term (3 to 6 months), and the long term (12 to 18 months).  A statistical mean on the 1 to 10 scale is then derived which becomes the monthly Real Estate Confidence Index.  The Index is statistically valid due to the number of responses received.

The Real Estate Confidence Index (R.E.C.I.) for October, 2009 is 5.59.  This seems a bit middle-of-the-road, and one might say, "Yeah... half the country's confident, the other half isn't."  However, the Index is based upon real opinions from real professionals in the real estate field, and if watched over time, does fluctuate by State and economic conditions.

To those of us in Georgia, confidence is not great.  The Georgia R.E.C.I. is 5.08.  Georgia real estate professionals rate their confidence in the current market a 4.53, with improvement in the short term to 4.63, and the long term to 6.08 - still a long way from complete, or even comfortable confidence in the marketplace.

In the South, Georgia professionals are joined by South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky and Oklahoma practitioners with only low to moderate confidence in their markets.  Professionals in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina exhibit a bit more confidence, but still hover only slightly higher (current index 6.3) than the country as a whole.

Survey administrators point out that "the Real Estate Confidence Index is a purely subjective survey, and is in no way intended to be an accurate reflection of current market conditions."  It is based on the opinions of real estate professionals across the country.  Even so, it's both interesting, enlightening, and probably not too far off.