After a post-Sandy dip, New York City real estate brokers have expressed renewed confidence in the real estate market, according to the first ever Broker Confidence Index released by the Real Estate Board of New York.

The December 2012 index was 8.12, the highest since September 2012’s figure of 8.55, and showed a significant increase from the November 2012 level of 7.55, when Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath left brokers uncertain about the market.

“Since we began conducting the survey seven months ago, we have found that our brokerage division members, both residential and commercial, have been increasingly confident in the market overall,” said Steven Spinola, the president of REBNY. “We anticipate that confidence levels will continue to increase as the economy improves overall and the city continues to recover from the impacts of the storm.”

Among residential brokers, the December 2012 index was 8.57, an increase of 0.25 attributed to the steady housing sales market. Commercial brokers were slightly less optimistic, with an index of 7.67 in December 2012, up from 6.67 in November 2012.

Though Sandy’s effect on New York was enormous, some experts believe that the rebuilding effort could boost the real estate market, as The Real Deal previously reported. – Hiten Samtani