How I Read a Local Market Before Advising a Client
Headlines talk about the housing market like it is one thing. It is not. Two neighborhoods ten minutes apart can be moving in opposite directions, so I look at a handful of numbers together instead of any single one.
Here is roughly what I check before I tell a client whether to move now or wait, and what each number actually tells us about their negotiating position.
Inventory first. How many comparable homes are for sale right now in the price range and area? Thin inventory means my buyer needs to be ready to move fast and clean. Rising inventory means we can ask for repairs and take a week to think.
Days on market next. If similar homes are going in under two weeks, sellers hold the cards. When that number stretches out, buyers get room to negotiate.
Price cuts tell me about expectations. One reduction means nothing. Five in the same few streets means sellers set their asking prices above what buyers will pay, and we adjust accordingly.
Then I compare asking prices to closed sales. Asking price is a hope. Closed sales are the truth, and they are what an appraiser will use.
Rates, local hiring, new construction, and the season all push on these numbers, but they push unevenly. A new employer across town can heat up one school district and leave another flat.
I have never met anyone who timed the market perfectly, and I do not try. I would rather know the local numbers cold, know your budget, and be ready to act the week the right house lists.
