I recently had two listings quickly go into escrow but confused a few agents with the homes status and showing instructions.  Both homes were put into “Pending” instead of “Backup” status but both showed agent notes indicating we were looking for backup offers and that the homes could still be shown.  Why you might ask? (same question several agents had).  The reason is that the CRMLS days on market continue to accrue in backup status and not pending status which leads, in my opinion, to very misleading information and data.

As an example I just sent information on a sold home to a client to use for refi comp purposes.  It showed 51 days on market, which is a very good indication that it may have been priced too high and took a while to sell (in this current sellers market). Upon a deeper look the home sold after 7 days and the rest of the time was in escrow. A home selling in 7 days paints a very different picture of current market conditions. If home buyers see an average days on market of 45-60 but the reality is that homes are going into escrow generally within the first 10 days, homebuyers will not have the accurate information they need to make informed decisions.

It impacts listing agents as well as many potential sellers want to know how quickly we, as the listing agent, sell homes and what the days on market is. They do not want to see that we sold something after 51 days on market and this lack of correct information may eventually cost us a listing in the end.

Days on market is a critical tool in terms of market and agent perception and, in my opinion, only represent the days that a home is in “active” status.