Tucson MLS Statistical Reports Change
June 17, 2007
Post Tags: tucson-mls-statitical-basis , tucson-real-estate-statistics
Tucson MLS Data Gets Better The Reporting Gets Worse
The basis for the Tucson MLS Statistical reporting has changed. Starting with the May 2007 Statistics only the areas which are a part of Tucson will be included in the figures.
This is a great move. The outlying counties and even listing figures from Mexico have been included in the Tucson statistics in the past; only serving to skew the data for the Tucson Real Estate Market.
The list of areas removed:
- PE Pinal County East
- PS Pinal County South
- CCO Cochise County
- CPI Pinal County
- CSC Santa Cruz County
This will provide a more accurate picture of what is going on in Tucson.
Apples to Oranges in Reporting Tucson MLS Statistics
Since these areas have been removed, the Tucson MLS should change the way they report the data till it once again becomes an apples to apples comparison.
Tucson Active Listings
I’m seeing some reports saying “Good News, active listings fell in the month of May, NOT TRUE.
Apples to Oranges reporting, April’s listing count included the dropped areas. If you drop those areas from the April figures we see 9719 active listings in April and 9721 active listings in May an increase of 4; not a drop.
Total Units Sold
The paper reported a 14% drop in the number of units sold indicating a continued downturn in the housing market. When the 1546 listings from last May to the 1313 reported for this May are comparied it is 14%, but when you factor in the
Again, they are comparing last years figures without accounting for the dropped areas. When you adjust those figures for to make it a true comparison to last year. The decline is more like 9.8% and not 14%.
Tucson MLS Reporting.
When you read the first page of the statistics where they provide the summaries, it is obvious that no one took this into account and the reporting is still based on last year with all areas and this year with Tucson only areas.
There are Tucson real estate agents that use this data as the basis for their reviews of the market on Realty Times and Realtor.com market reviews. This is leading to some very inaccurate assessments of the market being provided to the public way beyond the local media.
Any Tucson real estate agent reporting to clients on the figures and statistics should go back to last years reports and only compare the Tucson areas from last year to the Tucson areas for this year. At least that will be a better comparison than to blindly go on reporting figures that obviously will distort the market and make it appear to be worse than it is.
I hear many working in real estate bemoaning the biased reporting coming out of the media. Now we have the Tucson MLS Reports comparing apples to oranges and feeding the mill of gloom and doom.
Split out Condos from Townhomes in Reports
Last year the Tucson MLS made a change to the listing categories and split out Townhomes and Condos. This was an excellent decision since they are two completely different segments of the market. However, they have not adjusted the reporting accordingly. Townhomes and condo sales need to be split out.
Each can be an indicator of what is happening in the market. For example, when condo sales suddenly take off during a heavy seller’s market it is considered the beginning of the end.
We have the data split out, now it is time to bring the reporting up to date.
Tucson MLS Reporting Could Really Help
The Tucson MLS could really help getting a better picture of the Tucson Real Estate market of they would do the following:
- Get the Monthly Reports out in the first 5 working days of the month.
- At the bottom of the report explain if there were corrections to the data from the previous month.
- Make sure the year over year comparisons are apples to apples.
- Split out the condo and townhome sales in the reporting.
If they would do these 4 things it would greatly improve the accuracy of the reporting.
A finally suggestion. If some company is late providing their data, then set a deadline and a fine then publish their name at the bottom of the following month stating this company is the reason the figures are adjusted for the previous month causing everyone to have in complete data.
The Tucson MLS is the primary source for the public, real estate brokerages and real estate agents for the condition of the market. It should provide the best reporting as quickly and accurately as possible.
