Low inventory and tax issues are top REALTOR® business concerns

Lack of housing supply was the top business concern identified by King County REALTORS® in a recent survey. When asked to rank the level of importance certain marketplace issues will have on their business in the next year, ‘inadequate housing inventory to meet buyer demand’ was ranked as important to extremely important by 98%. A similar question asked brokers to rank the importance of certain legislative issues in the next 12 months. ‘Proposed sales tax on real estate commissions’ was ranked as extremely important by 81% of respondents. ‘Reduction of mortgage interest deduction for homeowners’ was also a major concern with 79% ranking it as very important or higher.

Respondents were also asked to rank their level of interest in seven different real estate topics. All of the listed topics were ranked ‘interested’ at 38% or greater. ‘Market forecast and economic data’ was rated the highest as ‘very interested’ (57%) followed by ‘technology related to real estate’ (47%), ‘legal and liability issues’ (47%), ‘business improvement techniques and tips’ (46%) and ‘educational opportunities’ (44%). Brokers indicated their preferred communication method for this information is a weekly (60%) and monthly (51%) email. NW Reporter scored as the overall highest rated information source, followed by the monthly e-newsletter ‘Real Estate Matters’.