When the Price Isn't the Price

Home sales data may be like sports statistics: the numbers don't lie, but they don't tell the truth either.

I've written about this before, with regard to Zillow (and recorded sales). Consider, did the seller offer credits or make repairs? Did the seller pay the buyer's escrow costs? What about the allocation of other costs? Termite? Retrofit items?

Escrow length is important to many sellers and buyers. Did the seller take less money in order to procure a longer or shorter escrow length? Did a lower price produce a quicker sale and reduce carrying costs? Was personal property included? Appliances?

Income property has even more variables. Were the units delivered vacant or occupied? If occupied, for how long, how many, and at what rental amount?

Instead, all most of us have access to is a number, a single sales figure. A more interesting number, at least for some, would be: Estimated Seller's Proceeds. Seller's Expenses, might be another useful measure. It still wouldn't tell the whole story, but at least we'd get past the foreword.