In July, the national composite index, summarizing responses from 300 federal banking and thrift agency senior examiners and asset managers to the Survey of Real Estate Trends , reached 74, up from 71 in April and 68 a year ago. Every region showed an increase in the index from the previous survey except the Midwest which was essentially unchanged. In the previous survey, this proportion was 44 percent.
Respondents are still generally positive about trends in commercial real estate.
More participants also noticed a tight market, lower vacancy rates and increasing sales of commercial properties. Introduction Four times a year the FDIC surveys senior examiners and asset managers from all federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies about developments during the prior three months in their local real-estate markets. Responses to the July 1997 Survey of Real Estate Trends showed that trends in local real-estate markets across the country were generally good. Steady rises in the national composite index have persisted since January of this year. The national indices for both the residential and commercial real-estate markets have shown the same trend.