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Do You Utilize The Value Of Year Over Year Reports?

By
Real Estate Agent with Joe Manausa Real Estate 8508880888

We use a year over year home sales report to compare a recent month against the same month last year.

It is a more effective way of looking at housing market performance. If Tallahassee saw more homes sold in March than in February, for example, but fewer than in March of last year, then we might be lulled into thinking that home sales were improving when in fact they were not.

The improvement might simply be because home sales do better in March. They say that knowledge is power, and both buyers and sellers can put some extra money in their pockets if they know how to use this information to their advantage.

The Value Of Year Over Year Reports

One of the advantages of a year-over-year comparison is that it automatically negates the effect of seasonality. For example, January and February home sales are always the lowest of the year. A month-to-month comparison would show a huge increase in March and could make us believe the market was getting better if you didn't know to take the seasonality into account.

Year-over-year comparisons reveal a truer picture of the housing market. In fact, there were 63 more homes sold in March of 2014 than were sold in March 2013, a positive move for the market. Additionally, March represented the 20th month in a row that this report was positive!

Year Over Year Home Sales

Use This Report To Your Advantage

A big mistake that I see made all the time, by both home sellers and home buyers alike, is that they do not know "where they stand" in the negotiation. Uninformed buyers want to come in too low and most sellers want to ask more for their home than it is worth.

Our chart above tells us that the market is growing stronger every month. That means there is a positive growth trend and that more buyers are in the market today than there have been in the recent past. Therefore, buyers need to understand that they have more people competing to buy homes than what they might have heard in the past.

If a buyer does a thorough search for a home in a highly liquid price range (anything between $100,000 and $400,000 in Tallahassee) and finds one that really stands out from all the others, then she better make a strong offer. The year over year report is telling her that competition among buyers is picking up, and what are the odds she is the only one that thinks the house she found is worth buying?

Similarly, home sellers can take this information and use it to their advantage. It wasn't long ago that property values were dropping in all price ranges, and home sellers had to price their homes lower and lower to attract a buyer. But this increase in buyer activity has helped turn the tide, and home sellers are now (in highly liquid price ranges) seeing home values move higher.

This means that if they want more money than their house is (currently) worth, all they have to do is wait and the market will come up to them. Additionally, if they receive an offer that is lower than what their real estate agent tells them their home should sell for, they can confidently counter the buyer's offer at a higher price. The market is moving in their favor again.

Hire A Trained Negotiator

You don't have to over-pay for a home, and you don't have to sell your home below market. But that is what many people do, all because they fail to perform a critical "first step" in the real estate transaction process.

Take the time to interview enough agents until you know you are working with a trained negotiator. In Tallahassee, it usually equates to about roughly 4 or 5% in working with a trained negotiator versus the typical un-trained real estate agent. You will likely spend the same amount on fees either way, so why not hire the best to take care of your best interests?

If somebody can not brief you on current trends in the housing market, how can they know where you stand in the negotiation? Make them show you current graphs, trends, and analysis and look to see that they are confident in understanding how this will impact your move. If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in Tallahassee, just drop me a note and we can schedule a time to show you a process that will save you money.

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Joe Manausa Real Estate
1934 Dellwood Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32303
(850) 366-8917

Comments (10)

Cindy Edwards
RE/MAX Checkmate - Johnson City, TN
CRS, GRI, PMN - Northeast Tennessee 423-677-6677

I love the graph.  We do use year by year reports, and quarterly reports.  What I don't use, and need to use, are graphs.  Any pointers on how to get started with them?

May 02, 2014 11:28 PM
David Saks
Memphis, TN
Broker / Industry Analyst

More terrific information for all and a great post as well.

May 03, 2014 12:26 AM
David Shamansky
US Mortgages - David Shamansky - Highlands Ranch, CO
Creative, Aggressive & 560 FICO - OK, Colorado Mtg

Nice Joe. I know a lot of people look at stats but without proper knowledge they can be deceiving. You can have increased sales but its not signaling a good market or vice versa. Nice info my friend

May 03, 2014 03:48 AM
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee, FL
Joe Manausa Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee Real Estate

Hey Cindy, learn how to us MS Excel. It does great graphs. I have more than 100 graphs that are updated each month ... makes blogging about them a breeze.

May 03, 2014 03:58 AM
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Yes, Joe.  Month to month reports can be very misleading.  The year to year reports and even multi-year reports are much more meaningful.

May 03, 2014 10:23 PM
Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

Year over year monthly stats is the best way to identify trends in pricing AND learn present values.

I use this stat every single day when researching a home listing, a home of interest, a community, etc.

May 05, 2014 06:24 AM
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee, FL
Joe Manausa Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee Real Estate

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment, David!

Mar 29, 2021 04:42 AM
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee, FL
Joe Manausa Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee Real Estate

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment, David!

Mar 29, 2021 04:42 AM
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee, FL
Joe Manausa Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee Real Estate

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment, Gabe!

Mar 29, 2021 04:42 AM
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee, FL
Joe Manausa Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee Real Estate

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment, Lenn!

Mar 29, 2021 04:42 AM