Realtor indexes down

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors today announced that the July Realtor Market Index is down for the second straight month. The July Realtor Price Index was also down for the second time in the past 12 months.

In July 2010, the Realtor Market Index was 28.15, which was 25.72 percent lower than the 37.89 score recorded in July 2009.

On a month-to-month basis, the July 2010 RMI was down less than 1 percent from the June score of 28.36.

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.

The Realtor Price Index was down 6.13 percent in July, at 47.43, compared to 50.53 for the same time last year. On a month-to-month basis the July index number was up 1.24 percent from the Home Sales Price Index number in June 2010.

When members were asked how many of their clients were able to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit because of the closing deadline extension (from June 30 to Sept. 30, 2010), 29 percent of respondents reported that 1or 2 clients benefited, and 18 percent responded that three to four or more clients benefited. Forty-six percent responded that none of their clients needed the extension to take advantage of the tax credit, while 7 percent responded that the question was not applicable.