SunriseWhy Are There More Sales On The Warren County Auditor's Site Than Cincinnati MLS?

Dear Liz,
We follow our local market pretty closely and noticed that there's a wide disparity between the Cincinnati MLS sales and the Warren County Auditor's records.  Can you explain the reason for the big difference?
Signed,
Musing in Maineville

Dear Musing,
We're glad you asked!  No doubt there is a quite noticeable gap between the auditor's records and the Cincinnati MLS!  And before you assume it's all those For Sale By Owner signs succeeding, we've got a few more factors for you to consider!

For instance, let's examine the data for the Little Miami School district for the years 2009-2011.  We extracted the sales data from Cincinnati MLS to get the quantity of homes sold (and threw in Average and Median prices for good measure)!  Then we visited the Warren County Auditor's real estate search site to examine the same time frames for quantity of homes sold.  Then with a little export and some Excel adjustments to eliminate duplicate address transactions, we arrived at the following table:

Little Miami School District Home SalesObviously, there IS a significant gap between Cincinnati MLS and the Warren County Auditor site.  Over DOUBLE in 2009 & 2010, and still large in 2011 although the gap is closing.  Why? 

Well there's a number of valid reasons for the gap:

  • Auditor transactions include all sheriff's sales/foreclosures as the initial repossession takes place.  Cumulatively over the course of a year, this can add up!
  • Auditor transactions include transfers from developers to builders of new construction homes.
  • Auditor transactions include new construction sales that were never advertised in MLS.  (combine this reason with the previous bullet and you can understand the Auditor numbers dropping from 2009 to 2011 as new construction ground to a near halt in this school district)
  • Some homes for sale are only entered in Dayton MLS.
  • Lastly, the auditor's site DOES include private sales that did not engage a REALTOR® and MLS.

As you can see, there's a pretty good explanation of why the numbers vary between the two sources.  It's important to understand the different data sources and what they represent, and even more important to hire a REALTOR® Team knowledgeable in understanding and interpreting the data in clear terms!

If you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLiz

REALTORS(S) Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas

The Liz Spear Team of RE/MAX Elite
Elizabeth & William Spear
Ask for us by name if you visit the office!
EHO Two locations: Lebanon & Mason, OH
Liz direct:  513-265-3004
Bill direct: 513-520-5305     
Fax: 866-302-8418
MailTo:  LizSpear@Go-Concepts.com
Our Website:  www.LizTour.com

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12 Comments on Why Are There More Sales On The Warren County Auditor's Site Than Cincinnati MLS?

JAN
25
2012
651,548 Points 69 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

Hi Liz & Bill.  The last reason is probably the biggest reason for the discrepancy.  MLS does not show private sales.  Good sleuthing.
6:31am • #1
1,055,964 Points 287 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Conrad, The For Sale By Owner niche wasn't as big as one might expect for the differential.  Little Miami School district covers a large segment of our market area and new construction ramping up faster than the budget funding was part of the issue with the school funding tax levy fight.  Additionally, our county forecloses over 1000 homes per year lately, at least a couple hundred of those are in this school district.  We're looking forward to that number dropping.
6:44am • #2
989,175 Points 82 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

Huge difference in the numbers, and I knew you'd know the answer!  Welll done.
6:55am • #3
1,100,447 Points 94 Featured Posts Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Bliz,

When I'm showing buyers homes, they frequently ask to see the tax record. I often see a transfer of property when people get married too.

Rich
7:01am • #4
939,117 Points 74 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

BLiz: Good explanation of the differences...consumers need to understand what they are seeing and how it can be applied to their situation or the current market.
8:06am • #5
1,055,964 Points 287 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Roger, Thanks!

Rich, Great point! Throw in divorce transactions with the marriage deed entries and the differential gets even smaller.
8:07am • #6
1,055,964 Points 287 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Anita, Understanding the data goes a long way towards making the proper informed decisions.  The table above tells several stories if you have the context to know what was happening over that time frame.  Now that the school levy has passed we'll be VERY interested in watching the data over the next few months.  School buses started back up again this week for that school district! :)
8:16am • #7
313,475 Points 32 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

BLiz~ Great response with detailed information as always! Anyone looking to buy in Warren County certainly should give you a call!!
9:37am • #8
1,055,964 Points 287 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Melissa, We're happy to help the buyers and sellers of Warren County area homes :)  We do our best to make sure they're never disappointed!
9:47am • #9
JAN
26
2012
613,345 Points 40 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Great information, Liz/Bill.  What I like the best about this is you took the time to actually get some "facts", then decipher their meaning.  
12:21pm • #10
405,899 Points 6 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

Way to go Sherlock Holmes! Nice post about why the numbers vary so much. You have inspired me to check our local numbers. With posts like this home-buyers and sellers will know you provide very detailed information. Kudos!
12:40pm • #11
1,055,964 Points 287 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Juli, The first cut of data made me want to understand the wide variance.  Examining gave us a bit, and Rich's comment filled the rest of the gap.

Betina, We had a request for three years of sales data for the school district, we added the Auditor data to the MLS data for our own benefit, then wanted to understand the variance ourself.  I like digging through and understanding the data.
1:12pm • #12

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Liz and Bill Spear RE/MAX Elite Warren County Ohio: Cincinnati to Dayton

Liz and Bill Spear

Mason, OH

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513.265.3004 www.LizTour.com

Address: 5720 Gateway Blvd, Suite 203, Mason, OH, 45040

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REALTORS(R) serving Warren County Ohio and surrounding areas. Observing and reporting on real estate and related topics to help your quality of life! And if you're asking where is Warren County Ohio? We fill the space between Cincinnati and Dayton. Perfect for enjoying the bigger cities without living in them. Places like Mason, Lebanon, Springboro, Waynesville, Franklin and more. Plus lots of rural properties available too. We work with both residential homes buyers and sellers.


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