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Real Estate Analysis - Is MLS 'Days on Market' Useful? |
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 In a different time in the real estate market "Days on the Market" (DOM) was a more significant thing to look for in the MLS. But in the market we have now, this information has become less meaningful.
Used to it was thought that pretty much any listing that was in the MLS and past 90 days either meant the listing broker did not know what he or she was doing, or that the Realtor and the owner of the property doesn't really care or really need to sell it the property.
Today this is not the case. With today's market of "short-sale" properties that can take months and months for the banks to decide if they will accept any offer/s at all it is much more common to see homes listed in the MLS for hundreds and hundreds of days.
Also a home may have been listed as a "short-sale" and never been able to get the mortgage lender(s) to accept offers, and ultimately it foreclosed. When this happens, if the home comes back on the market right away as a foreclosed property, there will be the old information of hundreds and hundreds of days as the cumulative number of days on the MLS, but there will be a lesser number of says beside it as the "agent days" the reflect its new status time line.
Each listing on the MLS carries a DOM (days on the market) field that tells the viewer how long the property has been listed. Listing agents, however, have the ability to "re-list" or "re-age" a property listing. Currently in Arizona if a property has been off the market for a total of 90+ days, it appears as though it is a new listing. Any information about past listings would only be available to a real estate agent and not the general public.
Another fact to consider when looking at days on the market is to see if the property is one that only allows primary home buyers to buy it during the first 15 days it is on the market. There are some foreclosures (primarily ones that have been acquired by Fannie Mae) that will only look at offers from primary home buyers during the first 15 days they are on the market. This means a second home buyer, or investor cannot put in an offer on these properties until day 16 or later.
Your real estate agent can help you to determine more about the DOM (days on the market) of homes you may be interested in.
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