Recently, I wrote an article stating that the housing market has begun transitioning from an extreme seller’s market to a much more balanced one—at least on a national level. While I do expect appreciation to moderate in almost all markets across the U.S., whether or not prices simply grow less quickly, flatten out, or decline will depend on the individual market.
Real estate is local, and to take advantage of opportunities that could come from this shifting market dynamic, every investor needs to be an expert in their respective market.
To help you in that effort, I created an interactive map with key housing market stats from June 2022.
To pan the map on desktop, select the play button and then the cross with arrows. On mobile, use two fingers to navigate the map.
Feel free to play around with the map and get a feel for what it can do, but below is an explanation of the different information it provides.
Metrics
I have included five different metrics that you can explore. Just select whichever metric you want to be displayed on the map:
The definitions are:
- Median List Price – The median listing price of all homes within the specified geography during the specified month.
- Active Listings – The count of all homes currently listed for sale on the market within the specified geography during the specified month.
- Days on Market (DOM) – The median number of days the listings spend on the market within the specified geography during the specified month. Time spent on the market is defined as the time between the initial listing of a property and its closing date or the date it is taken off the market.
- New Listings – The count of new listings added to the market within the specified geography. The new listing count represents a week’s worth of new listings in a given month.
- Price Drops – The count of listings that have had their price reduced within the specified geography.
Of all of these, I personally believe active listings and days on market are the best metrics to evaluate right now, as they provide a strong measurement of the balance between supply and demand.
When active listings and days on market are low, it indicates a strong seller’s market where prices are likely to increase. When active listings and days on market are high, it’s a buyer’s market where prices could fall.
To best understand what is happening in your market, I recommend you look at how active listings and DOM are trending against last year’s data and pre-pandemic data for the same month (June 2019).
Analysis Period
There are three analysis periods to choose from on the map:
- Year-Over-Year: Compares June 2022 data to the same period last year (June 2021).
- June 2019 – June 2022: Offers a comparison to pre-pandemic levels by comparing June 2022 data to June 2019
- June 2022: This shows numbers for June 2022 only and does not compare to any other time period.
Geography
Lastly, you can select specific geography to zero in on using either the “Metro Name” filter or the “ZIP” filter. For metros, you can type in the name of the city you want to see. For ZIP codes, you can type in the numbers and choose from the list.
Quick note: Unfortunately, the map won’t automatically zoom to the area you select.
Wrapping Up
I hope this map helps you get better insight into what is happening in your local market. Of course, this map only includes select data points, most of which I have selected to measure the short-term conditions in the given market.
For evaluating markets on a longer-term basis, it makes more sense to look at macroeconomic conditions like population growth, economic growth, unemployment, and wage growth.
How do you plan to use this data? What has this map helped you learn about your target market(s)? Let me know in the comments below!
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Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.
