Clark County Real Estate: “Days on Market” Doubles!

Well, not really, but the headline caught your attention, no?

Days on Market (how long it takes a home to sell in the Vancouver/Clark County market) jumped from 75 in September, 2007 to 146 in September, 2008, a 94.7% jump, at least according to the details in the way the Columbian reported the September number.  Yikes!

Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story.

Because of the recent challenges in the market, RMLS (the multiple listing service that includes Vancouver, Clark County and Southwest Washington) changed the way they calculated Days on Market (DOM).  The move seemed focused on changing seller’s “expectations” of how long it takes to sell.

The old way, a representation of the current listing DOM, was determined based on only the most recent real estate listing. Where the new “Total” Market Time, reflects the cumulative number of days on the market, including those from a previous real estate listing (so long as the house wasn’t off the market for more than 31 days in between).

Clear as Mud Pie?

Regardless of the complexity of the definitions and massaging of numbers, the new way is actually a much better reflection of the time it takes to sell a home.

Days on Market is a key factor in a listing, especially to buyers. Our free home search service on our site www.search360homes.com allows buyers to sort their search based on time on market, and in conjunction with our daily updates, is a great way to stay on top of the what’s new (or old, if you so desire) on the market.

For kicks, I searched our site and with a little sleuthing found that the “oldest” currently active home on the market has been for sale for 756 days, and counting.  Yes, Seven Hundred Fifty Six.  That’s a lot of time to make mud pies.