Agents Are Less Confident About Client Pipelines, But Positive Overall

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As the short, cold days of February come to a close, many agents have one thing pressing in ever-closer on their minds: the spring market.

It’s a time of preparation — building marketing plans, staying in touch with clients, getting back offices in order and preparing taxes. But perhaps most urgently, agents are assessing client pipelines, ensuring they’re well positioned ahead of the busy buying and selling season.

Agents today seem less confident than they have in recent months that their buyer and seller client pipelines will improve in the next year, according to preliminary results from February’s Intel Index survey. However, most agents believe those pipelines will improve or at least hold steady — as opposed to worsening — in the coming months.

In this week’s report, Intel dives into client pipelines and examines the factors that may be contributing to a shift in sentiment.

Buyers pulling back?

A significant share of agents in February shifted from believing that buyer pipelines would improve in the next several months to feeling they would more likely remain about the same or worsen, according to preliminary survey results.

• 40 percent of agent respondents said they believe buyer pipelines would become heavier in the next 12 months.
• That’s down from the 45 percent of agents who thought their buyer pipelines would improve in January, and from the 47 percent who thought they would improve in December.

A portion of those agents who previously were more optimistic about growing their buyer pipelines may have simply mellowed out a bit, survey results suggest, as those who believe their pipelines will hold steady saw a slight increase.

• 45 percent of agent respondents in February said their buyer pipelines would likely stay the same for the next year.
• In January, 44 percent of agent respondents said they expected buyer pipelines to remain the same over the next 12 months. In December, only 37 percent of agents expected their buyer pipelines to hold steady for the next year.

Recent movements in the market may be weighing on agents’ psyche and contributing to feelings that buyers will be scarce in the coming months than previously thought.

Agents have continued to see home prices on the rise, with the FHFA Housing Price Index and S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices hitting new highs this week, reflecting stress homebuyers feel in the market now. Meanwhile, new-home sales and pending home sales reports that came out this week painted a grim picture. New-home sales fell 10.5 percent (well below expectations) in December, while pending home sales in January also fell 4.6 percent to a new low.

The White House also signaled that new tariffs on Mexico and Canada will take effect during the first week in March, a move that has many consumers concerned about rising inflation — and perhaps less inclined to make a big purchase, like a house, for now.

Sellers slightly wary?

Agents’ changing sentiment toward seller pipelines is not quite as marked as that toward buyer pipelines has been over the past few months. However, preliminary results from the Intel Index show that agents are similarly feeling a little less confident about those seller pipelines as well.

• 44 percent of agent respondents in February said they expect their seller pipelines to improve in the next year, compared to the 48 percent who said in December and January that they expected those pipelines to grow in the future.
• 39 percent of agents said they expected seller pipelines in the next year to remain the same, not far off from the 42 percent in January and the 38 percent in December who said they expected them to hold steady in the next year.

Even though agents seem to have slightly more stable perceptions about the future of their seller pipelines, some are also reverting back to an attitude seen last spring and summer — an acceptance of the possibility that their seller pipelines may be lighter in the next 12 months.

• 14 percent of agent respondents in February said they expect their listing pipelines to be slightly worse in the next year, roughly equal to the proportion of agents who thought the same around April through August 2024.
• Only about 2 percent of agents in February thought their seller pipelines would get significantly worse in the next year.

Despite market headwinds and recent setbacks in home sales, the majority of survey respondents still believe that the year ahead will lead to at least the same amount, if not more, business on the buy- and sell-side. It may simply be a matter of getting through current uncertainties, like tariffs and inflation, to find solid footing on the other side.

Methodology notes: This month’s Inman Intel Index survey is being conducted Feb. 17-Feb. 28, and had received 723 responses as of Thursday morning. These results are preliminary and may be revised. The entire Inman reader community was invited to participate, and a rotating, randomized selection of community members was prompted to participate by email. Users responded to a series of questions related to their self-identified corner of the real estate industry — including real estate agents, brokerage leaders, lenders and proptech entrepreneurs. Results reflect the opinions of the engaged Inman community, which may not always match those of the broader real estate industry. This survey is conducted monthly.

Email Lillian Dickerson