What is “Days On Market”?
One stat we as real estate agents look at regularly is “days on market” as this is a key indicator of the health of the real estate market. It represents the average time it takes for homes to sell. In a healthy market that number is relatively low and doesn’t fluctuate much. In a market that is having some challenges (whether it be from employment changes or consumer confidence), you will see the days on market begin to creep up.
However, just because days on market number increases a bit doesn’t mean that the market is unhealthy. Just as the temperature fluctuates with the seasons, so does demand for houses. In most markets, spring and summer see the most demand, so you would think the days on market would be lower during that time. However, that number can be skewed somewhat by homes that have languished on the market over the winter that are finally sold during the spring.
Here on Mercer Island, our days on market are a bit lower simply because our inventory is so low. In fact, as of today, there are only 24 homes for sale on the island! Let’s take a look below at the chart comparing days on market in numbers in 2015 compared to 2014:
