#56: Precisely-ish, Sordid Sources for San Francisco Real Estate

Welcome to another episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast. This week we focus in on one deceptively tricky real estate statistic: How many homes are for sale, at any given time, in San Francisco?[00:58] Now, you may ask yourself (like we did): “What could be difficult about figuring this out?” and - as we said - we thought that this sounds like a fairly straightforward number to determine. However, depending on which source you use, the number varies from about 950 properties at the very low end, to 1981 properties at the other end of the scale, with a lot of different numbers in between.[04:02] Why are we seeing such a large variation in the number of homes for sale that are being reported? There are a number of factors that appear to be skewing the results we are seeing. What are the things to consider when looking at stats about how many homes are currently on the market? There are at least six different factors that account for the huge variation in results: 1. Sources; 2. Off-line property market; 3. Property status; 4. Property types; 5. Statistical smoothing; and 6. New construction.[14:58] As it is probably abundantly clear by this point, finding the exact number can be a challenge. When you hear a SF real estate statistic, be sure you understand where it is coming from and what the limitations might be. Or, just listen to another Question that Answer episode. Or simply get in touch to see if we can help!Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode please leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.