How the national balance is measured
The dial on the home page can show one reading for the whole country. It answers a narrow question: compared with a normal month before 2020, do this month's national listing figures lean toward buyers or toward sellers?
Three signals against their pre-2020 norm
The reading uses three national figures that Realtor.com publishes every month: how many homes are listed for sale, how many days a typical listing takes to sell, and what share of listings have had a price cut.
Each figure is compared with its own average for the same calendar month in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the last three years before the pandemic. Comparing September with past Septembers keeps the seasons out of the reading.
- Fewer homes for sale than the norm leans toward sellers; more leans toward buyers.
- Homes selling faster than the norm leans toward sellers; slower leans toward buyers.
- A smaller share of price cuts than the norm leans toward sellers; a larger share leans toward buyers.
The three leans are combined into one number from −100, where buyers hold every card, to +100, where sellers do. A reading near zero means the three signals sit close to their norm or pull in different directions.
The five words
The number is read with the same five words used for every ZIP: Buyer's market, Leaning buyer, Balanced, Leaning seller and Seller's market.
How it differs from a ZIP's reading
A ZIP's balance compares that ZIP with other ZIPs this month. The national balance compares the country with its own past. They answer different questions, so the average of every ZIP's balance and the national balance are different numbers. On the home page the dial in United States view shows the national balance; the panel under it, labeled “All scored ZIPs”, describes the ZIPs.
Areas, states and regions
Readings for your area, a state or a region are averages of their scored ZIPs, weighted by population, so a ZIP with 40,000 residents counts for more than one with 4,000. “Your area” is every scored ZIP within 15 miles of your location, widened to 30 and then 60 miles until at least twelve ZIPs are inside.
The four regions are the Census Bureau's:
- West
- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
- South
- Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
- Midwest
- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
- Northeast
- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
Sources and schedule
Active listings, days on market and price-cut share: Realtor.com residential listings, national file, monthly since July 2016. 30-year fixed rate: Freddie Mac's weekly survey, averaged by month. The series is refreshed on the 1st and the 15th of each month, and a month's reading does not change once the month has closed.