Local Housing Market Stimulus

AS one of the instructors at Annex Real Estate School, here in Quincy, Massachusetts, I look at the correlation between school enrollment and the general real estate market. Traditionally, our most popular class at the school has been the Massachusetts Real Estate Salesperson pre-licensing course. The other factor, that I've seen is the connection with the local job market.

For most of 2008, there was an increasing number of hits on the school website, and a corresponding increase in the number of students at the school. There seemed to be a consensus that there was an anticipation of leveling off in the housing market as well as the opportunity of improvement.

Then in early September the hits on the website and the enrollment dropped off dramatically as the national economic news became the headlines. This was far more than just the seasonal slowdown.

So, what is the current picture? With only two months of 2009 registration experience, we are observing a definite up tick in interest in entering the real estate field as a Real Estate Salesperson in Massachusetts. At least for the school, it looks like the 'Spring market' has started.

Again, there are at least two obvious factors. Seeing the down turn in employment, people are looking for new career opportunities, at least as a back up. Getting into real estate in Massachusetts is relatively easy with only 24 hours of classroom instruction required before taking the state exam. Many of our students are 20 - 40 years old with good work experience and/or college training that will make it easier for them to learn the material for the exam.

The other factor at play has to be the attitude of these new students. They realize that the market is down and slow. This equates to a market that will eventually be getting better as they improve their real estate skills. We all hope that these new students are right!