Keeping Track: real estate activity

Speculation has run high about what effect Sept. 11 will have on the real estate market. Uncertainty may have many prospective buyers and sellers putting their plans on hold. But low interest rates are luring the househunters out.

HomeGain, an online real estate company, has devised its own index of the market. It has been tracking the number of home buyers and sellers nationwide who "filed profiles" - indicating that they are prepared to initiate sales or purchases. Using its filing average for the 10 weeks before Sept. 11 as its benchmark, the company recorded a drop of 56 percent in the three days after the attacks. But filers have rebounded.