“We just want one of the candidates to have a good affair and we’ll be really fine,” says the Orlando, Florida broker. Then, she says, the media would obsess over the scandal and publish fewer downbeat housing stories. Even without such a scandal, she adds, “The election has helped, because the media is on a different tangent.”

While that may not be entirely the case, many brokers believe that without what they consider media-fueled fear of the market, they are better able to give clients their best angst-free advice. For a lot of brokers, that translates into a recommendation to buy now. Or, as Barbara Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of Real Living Realty One of Cleveland, puts it: “If you’re in buyer’s market, you should buy.”

But what to tell clients in this complex marketplace, where perceptions are national but realities are local, may be one area where one size does not fit all. If consumer confidence is built on a foundation of straight talk, the rap can-and probably should-vary from region to region...