Most agents give
an answer based
on one number.

Key to the pictures:Red favors sellersBlue favors buyers

SimpleMarket ReadThe fast answer and headline

Is it a buyer’s market, balanced market, or seller’s market, and is it cooling, steady, or heating up? You can quickly answer the question your client asked, with a foundation in data built from the two scores below.

The SimpleMarket Read is a fast market snapshot that helps you answer “How’s the market?” with greater depth and clarity at a glance. You can quickly answer the question and have a deeper discussion, look like a real market expert with ease, versus the average agent who relies on one number and stumbles to back up their answer. The SimpleMarket Read is a composite of the SimpleMarket Scale and SimpleMarket Momentum in one concise visual tool.

See how the Read works

SimpleMarket ScaleWhere the market stands

Six signals vote, each worth up to 2 points for buyers or for sellers:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

These six are all considered in the SimpleMarket Scale, a composite score that is the foundation of the SimpleMarket Read. The totals decide the label. A market is rarely all one thing, so you can show a client which signals favor them and which do not.

SimpleMarket MomentumWhich way the market
is moving

Current market numbers show you where the market is right now, but how does today’s market compare with the same time last year? The SimpleMarket Momentum answers that question. It is a composite too: six measures, each compared with the same month a year earlier:

Each earns up to 2 points for a side, and a net of 3 or more points either way is heating up or cooling.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

A year earlier is the same selling season, so a slow winter does not read as a cooling market. For example, homes sell more slowly in January than in June every year. Comparing January with last January asks whether the market changed, not whether the calendar did.

SimpleMarket TrailHow the market got here

Take your market read to another level by watching the SimpleMarket Read over time. The SimpleMarket Trail plots the SimpleMarket Scale and SimpleMarket Momentum on one chart, with a dot for every month.

Each dot is a month averaged with the two months before it, which smooths out the noise. Markets do not jump around, they ebb and flow, like tides going in and out. The SimpleMarket Trail shows a turn while it is happening. Try it below.

SimpleMarket CarpetStreaks and turns
of the market

Another unique way to see the market over a real estate selling season of 4 months: a color-coded grid of recent months and the measures behind them, shaded by which side each month favored. A streak or a change of direction shows at a glance.

It is a visual glance at the six most important measures when you look at a market.

The numbers most agents look at,
and what they mean for buyers and sellers

One number tells one aspect of the market. Often it’s the interaction of these numbers, or how they go in the same or different directions, that gives a more complete picture of what type of market it is. Rising prices with growing supply say something different from rising prices with shrinking supply, and quick sales with plenty of homes to choose from say something different again. Read the charts as a set to get a fuller perspective. The real story is in how the numbers move in relation to one another.

• Important Market data included with

  

  Every chart answers a question a client asks. Here is what each one tells you.

• Median and average priceThe median is the middle sale price, so a few very high or very low sales do not move it. The average is much more sensitive to outlying values and moves more. When the two drift apart, a few unusual sales are pulling the average in one direction or another, so look at both and compare them. That gap (or lack thereof) is worth explaining to a client.Buyers: A rising median means paying more, but it could also price some buyers out of competing for homes.Sellers: Pricing your home correctly is one of the most critical aspects of selling your house and putting together a strategy that results in a sale.
• Months of supplyHow long today’s homes for sale would last at the current pace of sales. Under about 3 to 4 months favors sellers, and over about 6 favors buyers. Between those ranges neither side is really favored. This is a fundamental perspective of supply and demand.Buyers: As supply increases, buyers gain advantages. Typically this means more choice, more time, and more room to negotiate.Sellers: Lower supply could mean less competition, stronger pricing, or that homes are selling quickly. As months of supply rises, your home needs to be more competitive.
• New listingsThis is a measure of the fresh supply of homes arriving on the market for sale each month, not new construction homes. More new listings do mean more fresh choices and new competition, and many times this is a seasonal change rather than a true temperature change in the market. Fewer choices help sellers hold their price more firmly.Buyers: Fewer homes new to the market leave buyers with less to pick from and can create pressure for buyers to choose from what’s available or to wait.Sellers: Competition can be good for you if you have a better product to sell or are priced more aggressively.
• Pending salesHomes currently under contract give a sense of demand right now, before closing. While the contract price is not known, it is a measure of activity in the market.Buyers: Unfortunately, pending sales are usually the homes that got away. Someone else came to an agreement to buy that home. Don’t give up hope, though: sometimes these deals fall apart, and sometimes you can capitalize on that.Sellers: Active listings are the competition, pending sales represent market activity, and sold homes support pricing for appraisals and hint at where new listings should be positioned to compete.
• Closed salesCompleted transactions, or closed sales, are the finished record of the market and are also significantly affected by the housing market season. They help confirm a trend, though they report what already happened. Set them beside the same month last year to see whether more or fewer homes are changing hands in a similar real estate season.Buyers: This is the other side of new listings coming to the market, and it is a good measure of the trend of the market.Sellers: Closed sales are a clue for pricing a home for sale, but remember they show where the market was, not where it is going. Price for the market ahead, not behind.
• Homes for saleThis is simply the amount of inventory a buyer can choose from, and it is a great measure to look at year over year. It is also one of those measures that is very seasonal, so one month can’t be compared to the next month, but changes year over year can signal a difference in the market.Buyers: More choice tends to favor buyers and can soften sale prices or allow for more buyer protection contingencies. Buyers may be able to be pickier about what they will accept.Sellers: Look deeper: is this a seasonal change or a shift in the market? Only other numbers and history will guide you. Look at the calendar and guidance to get a better perspective.
• Percent of list priceHow close homes sell to their asking price. A 1-2% increase or decrease is thousands of dollars on a home sale, but it’s also a small fraction of the overall price. A list price is just the first offer, not a guaranteed retail price or value.Buyers: When the figure approaches or crosses 100%, buyers are competing against other buyers, have fewer choices, have little room for negotiation, may need to put in stronger offers, or a combination of all of these. Having a good strategy is critical when putting together an offer.Sellers: If other sellers are getting close to or above 100%, you may be able to expect stronger offers closer to your list price, if you’re in line with the market. On the way down, sellers need to price ahead of the market or they may end up chasing it.
• Days on marketHow fast homes sell is one indicator about the temperature of the market. Lower priced homes typically have fewer days on market than significantly higher priced homes in the same market. A few slow or fast listings can artificially stretch the average and give a distorted picture, so it’s best to look at the median.Buyers: Low days on market mean quick sales to qualified buyers, a high number of buyers, or low inventory, and buyers need to take action when homes appear on the market.Sellers: The longer a home sits on the market, the higher the tendency for questions to develop about what could be wrong with the home.