The National Survey was sent to Realtors in February by Home Warranty of America, Inc. and received close to 500 completed responses. Realtors responded to a credit availability question positively, which was very encouraging when considering how tight banks have been over the last several months.

"We were pleasantly surprised by some of the results from Realtors who are on the frontlines of home sales. Realtors responded to a credit availability question positively, which was very encouraging when considering how tight banks have been over the last several months. Over 50% rated the availability of credit in their area for qualified home buyers as 'Good' or 'Excellent' with less than 10% rating it 'Poor,'" stated Marc Roth, President and CEO.

HWA(TM) also asked Realtors how they felt sales will be this spring in their market, normally the best selling season. Over 55% stated they see this spring as being "Good" to "Excellent" in their markets. Less than 38% said their market would be "Fair" and only 6.3% said they see sales being "Poor."

"Another interesting response came when Realtors were asked to prioritize the factors necessary for improving home sales. Almost 40% cited improving home buyer confidence was the number one factor to increasing home sales. Many stated the mainstream media was broadly negative, repetitive, and polarized to reporting what is happening on the coasts, rather than the entire nation. They stated this scares first-time home buyers and others who are now sitting on the sidelines," said Chris Kaucnik, Director of Marketing.

The Survey also showed over 90% of Realtors expected the market to begin returning to normal inventory levels sometime this year.