Real Estate Agent Optimism Leaps in Latest Redfin Survey

SEATTLE, April 2, 2013  Redfin, the technology-powered real estate broker (www.redfin.com), today released its latest survey of real estate agents. Data was collected from March 27 through March 29, and reflects responses from 650 Redfin-employed real estate agents and Redfin partner agents in 21 major metropolitan markets across the U.S.

The Redfin Real-Time Real Estate Agent Survey is part of an ongoing series that also includes surveys of homebuyers and sellers.

Real estate agents surveyed by Redfin:

• Consider today's market more favorable to sellers than buyers: 82% of agents surveyed described now as "a good time to sell," while only 57% described it as "a good time to buy." This is a total reversal from the third quarter of 2012, when 54% said it was a good time to sell and 75% said it was a good time to buy.
• Are confident of upcoming price gains: 97% of agents expect home prices to rise in the next year (44% think prices will "rise a lot," and 53% think prices will "rise a little"), while in the third quarter of 2012, 87% of agents expected home prices to rise (11% expected home prices to "rise a lot," and 76% expected home prices to "rise a little").
• Are feeling the pinch of low inventory and multiple offers: 96% of agents pointed to low inventory and multiple offers as the most common challenges facing buyers, up from 90% and 91%, respectively, in the third quarter.
• Believe sellers are gaining more confidence in the market than buyers: 98% of agents agreed that sellers are becoming more confident about the market, and 83% agreed that buyers are becoming more confident.
• Are more optimistic about the future of the real estate profession: 74% of agents believe that the real estate profession will grow in size in the next five years, up from 59% in the third quarter. Only 6% believe it will decline, down from 12% in the third quarter.

"Redfin real estate agents are right there with their clients," said Redfin's chief of real estate operations Scott Nagel. "We are working to educate people about the opportunities of a seller's market, while helping homebuyers compete for the few homes available."

About the Q1 2013 Redfin Real-Time Agent Survey The survey was taken between March 27 and March 29, 2013. Respondents spanned 21 metropolitan markets in the U.S.: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Riverside / San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, the Triangle, NC and Washington DC.

Click here to view full report, including charts and graphs. Additional data is also available by contacting [email protected].

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate broker that represents people buying and selling homes. Founded and run by technologists, Redfin has a team of experienced, full-service real estate agents who are advocates, not sales-people, earning customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions. Redfin's online tools feature all the broker-listed homes for sale, as well as for-sale-by-owner properties that don't pay brokers a commission. The company serves 21 U.S. markets and has closed more than $8 billion in home sales. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider. Follow us on our blog (blog.redfin.com), Twitter (@redfin), and Facebook (facebook.com/redfin), Redfin Collections (www.redfin.com/collections), and on our mobile apps (www.redfin.com/mobile). 

SOURCE Redfin