A housing market analysis is a study that contains statistical data related to the housing market. Typically, an analysis will include details of recent trends in the housing market such as average sale prices, foreclosure levels and the areas in which most home sale activity has occurred. To produce a useful report, the person conducting the analysis must set parameters that include geographic boundaries and the timescale for the study.
Regional and national governments often produce monthly or quarterly reports that detail pricing trends within the housing market. Such reports include average home prices and these figures are normally compared with past reports so that trends such as price increases or price drops can be measured. In the absence of such information, someone trying to conduct a housing market analysis could manually gather data on recent home sales from the local courthouse. Documents such as warranty deeds are often made available to the public and these documents usually include sale prices and transaction dates. Analysts can also gather information on recent sales from real estate agents.
Details of events such as foreclosures are often listed in local newspapers and journals. Additionally, foreclosures involve default judgments and records of such judgments are usually kept on file in the local courthouse. Aside from gathering foreclosure information for a housing market analysis, an individual can also cross-reference the addresses of foreclosed homes with local property tax records that include descriptions of property parcels. This information can be used to create a report showing the types of properties that have been foreclosed on over a particular period of time.
Someone conducting a housing market analysis may want to find out about the changing demographics of a particular neighborhood or region. In many instances, local governments conduct censuses and copies of these completed reports are often made publicly available. By reviewing census records, an analyst can find out information such as the age, gender and ethnicity of people who are housed within specific regions. In the absence of census information, an individual can gather this data by making door-to-door visits to neighborhood homes.
Having gathered data related to home sales, foreclosures, demographics and other relevant pieces of information, the person compiling the housing market analysis must produce a report that covers housing related activity in a specific area over a particular timeframe. For the report to be meaningful, the analyst must create subsequent reports that cover time periods with the same duration as the first report and include housing information that pertains to the same region. Over time, trends in the housing market can be easily tracked as analysts can compare reports that cover different time periods.