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An astute reader and blog follower, whose identity shall remain top secret, pointed out to me that I have been reporting some statistics that are somewhat in conflict with other posted statistics I have reported. As I am on both sides of the potential error, I guess I can’t really blame anyone else. Not that I would but you know. Here is approximately what I have learned (not that it should change anything about the big picture).
The Santa Fe Association of Realtors made a change in our database vendor a couple months ago. Knowing this change would cause me to learn new programs and keystrokes, I ran parallel reports in both old and new systems for several months. The information was almost identical, with a typical month showing the same or maybe a difference of one or two homes.
Upon further review, at the prompting of the unnamed reader, I have learned there was a reasonably large difference between the last 12 individual months reported sales in the chart called Monthly Sales, and the trailing 12 months of sales in the chart called Absorption Rates – All Price Ranges. These reports are supposed to be measuring the same data. That is: residential single family, condo and townhomes in Santa Fe City and County. No more and no less.
That should be enough, but also our MLS areas, which make sense to a Realtor searching for a home in a certain part of our market territory, do not exactly match up with County boundary lines. Some areas include property in different Counties. The quality of the input has forever influenced the quality of the output. And then there is the time element; when a sale is reported. Now and then someone reports a bunch of sales that happened in prior months, so my April number today could differ from the April number I reported May 10th. In fact, it does differ.
Are you bored yet? This long story is already too long. I am moving forward and the Monthly Sales report has been updated and corrected as much as possible (without completely reworking months or years of charts and reports). And thanks Mike! Oops, I mean Gary… or was it Dave?
Regards, Alan (…protecting your identity since 1950…)
Apologia definition:
a defense especially of one’s opinions, position, or actions <the finest apologia or explanation of what drives a man to devote his life to pure mathematics — British Book News>
