Realtors in Massachusetts are feeling pretty bullish about the state’s housing market. A new survey says confidence about the market and home prices hit all-time highs in January. The results are based on two indices – market confidence and price confidence – that the Massachusetts Association of Realtors tracks among its members every month based on their experience and feedback from clients, according to the group’s president Kimberly Allard-Moccia 
“Have you seen increased buyer activity and success in being able to secure a property? Have you seen increased activity from your sellers in placing homes on the market and to place their homes under agreement?”
Allard-Moccia says the latest survey shows confidence more than doubled in January over the same month a year ago, while the price index jumped by 67%. Interestingly, she adds, members also felt an increase in interest rates by as much as 1% could push more buyers into the market.
“I know that sounds a little unusual. But what we believe is that interest rates are so very low at this point, that if they were to bump up even a quarter of a percent or a half of a percent, that buyers may then take a second look at the fact that these rates could not be at this low point for that much longer.”
When asked if the so-called Sequestration deadline could impact confidence, Allard-Moccia says anything that affects the ability to buy or sell a home could impact the market. But she notes recent events, like the November election and the fiscal cliff issue, did not appear to dampen confidence, with realtors reporting strong housing activity for the last quarter of 2012.