Agents, brokers less rosy on future

American real estate broker and agent views of current market conditions are rosier this month than last month, but their confidence in the future has declined, according to a survey by real estate marketing and technology provider Point2 Technologies.

The national Real Estate Confidence Index fell 2.26 percent in February to 5.63 on a scale of one ("bad") to 10 ("good), the survey said.

The index is made up of three seasonally adjusted components: current sentiment, short-term outlook, and long-term outlook.

Current sentiment improved 1.04 percent, to 4.87, driven by lower inventories and low interest rates, the report said.

Short-term views for the next three to six months deteriorated 2.89 percent, to 5.71, while long-term views for the next 12 to 18 months fell 4.1 percent to 6.32. The survey pointed to expected interest rate hikes, the poor jobs market, and the imminent April 30 deadline (for a home sale to be under contract) for the federal homebuyer tax credit program as participants' major concerns.

Data for the report came from 1,401 responses from users of the company's Point2 Agent software platform.

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