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New York

Election blues: Commercial, resi brokers less confident in face of political uncertainty

Sluggish sales and retail vacancies are also to blame

If there’s something real estate players hate, it’s uncertainty. And thanks to the presidential election, there’s an abundance of it.

A new report by the Real Estate Board of New York places residential and commercial broker confidence at the lowest level seen in the third quarter since the group started tracking the metric in 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported. The report points to slowing sales and rising retail vacancies, but also blames the election for the decline in confidence.

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“This election cycle has put pressure on brokers’ optimism despite the sustained health of the real-estate market in New York City,” John Banks III, REBNY’s [TRDataCustom] president, said in a statement.

The report is based on a survey of 300 to 400 brokers, who were asked eight questions about the condition of the market. The confidence is then rated on a scale of 1 to 10, the latter being the highest level. For the third quarter of 2016, the overall index was 5.79. The residential broker confidence hit 6.37, and commercial broker confidence was 5.21, according to the report. The index for overall confidence in the market six months from now was a measly 4.3. [WSJ] — Kathryn Brenzel