National housing headlines describe an average that almost nobody lives in. Prices are rising and falling simultaneously in different parts of the same city, and acting on the national number is how people mistime their own market.
Macro trends versus local reality
Interest rates and employment are national. Inventory, absorption and buyer competition are hyper-local, sometimes varying block to block. The second set determines what your house sells for.
What to actually watch
Months of inventory in your specific area. The ratio of sale price to list price. Median days on market and, more importantly, the direction it is moving. Withdrawn and expired listings, which reveal where pricing has gotten ahead of demand. Those four tell you more than any national forecast.
From hindsight to foresight
Closed sales describe the market thirty to sixty days ago. Pending sales and showing activity describe it now. When those two diverge, the leading indicator is usually right.
Turning it into action
Local data answers practical questions: whether to list now or in eight weeks, whether to price at the top or the middle of a range, whether to expect competition. That is where market data earns its keep.
Read the full breakdown on HouseCashers.com