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Redacting History
George Orwell in his book “1984″ portrayed a society with a department of government whose only function was to go back and change all publications to reflect the current political climate.
Sometimes changes to numbers need to be made for purposes of correction. When corrections to data are made it is customary to make a note of the edited change with explanation of why it was necessary to make the change, error in reporting, new data found, etc.
This month the following line was added at the top of the page for Total Units Sold
** 2007 numbers revised to only include N, NE, NW, XNE, XNW, XW, SW, XSW, SE, XS, C, E AND S
This explains the numbers changed for this month. What about the rest of the year?
Did the MLS also revise all the other data the changes when this number changes?
As I compile the Statistics from the Tucson MLS each month I’ve noticed a changing of the data from month to month with no explanation provided as the necessity of changing the data. While these changes might seem insignificant it is important to note these are the figures used to portray the state of the Tucson Real Estate Market not only to the public, also to Brokerage companies and Real Estate Agents. We all get the same figures.
The chart below shows the Total Units Sold figures provided in the Statistics Report for each month.
Tucson MLS Total Units Sold 2007 Reports
| MLS Report | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan Report | 930 | ||||
| Feb Report | 930 | 912 | |||
| Mar Report | 967 | 1011 | 1246 | ||
| April Report | 974 | 1026 | 1353 | 1280 | |
| May Report | 941 | 993 | 1318 | 1287 | 1313 |
So February 2007 Total Units Sold was reported to be
- 912 in February
- 1011 in March
- 1026 in April
- 993 in May
A high of 1026 to a low of 912 a difference in reporting of 114 units.
Could that change the percentage for statistical reporting?
Want to check it out for yourself?
January 07
February 07
March 07
April 07
May 07
I hope I’m not the only person seeing something strange with the reporting of these numbers. Anyone reading today post on the Tucson MLS Statistics for May 2007 can see why I said about Total Units Sold “Maybe, Maybe More, Maybe Less, Hard to say.”
Does Anyone Report on These Numbers?
The “Arizona Daily Star” reports in today’s business section News and Notes:
“May home sales fell 14%; median price steady
Home sales in Tucson continued to fall in May and the median price stayed flat, according to a monthly report released Wednesday by the Tucson Association of Realtors. Compared to last May, residential sales were down about 14 percent at 1,313. The median price rose by about 1 percent to $223,500, according to the report. The number of listings has fallen to 9,721 from a record 10,387 in April. “
This looks like a report to me. “May home sales fell 14%” based on a number that might or might not be true. However, this is an Apples to Oranges comparison. Last year’s figures include the other areas left out of this months figures. Do you see that noted anywhere?
