After consecutive months of almost no movement, RISMedia’s measure of real estate confidence, the Broker Confidence Index, jumped this month. With a leap from 6.4 to 6.9—confidence now sits at almost exactly where it was a year ago.
According to RISMedia, this latest reading would indicate that conditions have broadly met or exceeded expectations in the early parts of spring, and brokers are growing more optimistic in the near term.
Back in December 2021—when the market was roaring— the Broker Confidence Index was at 8.2. For comparison sake, in April of last year—when sales seemed on the brink of a slowdown— the Index was at 7.
As we’ve been reporting, inventory seems to be the biggest challenge identified by brokers in the latest survey. Some 60 percent of this month’s survey respondents mentioned inventory as a factor affecting their confidence, or affecting their agents’ motivation.
Only 16 percent mentioned rates this month as affecting their confidence level, compared to 45 percent who worried about rates in April 2022.
For more on the latest Broker Confidence Index, click here.