MLS and Shakespeare: To Count or Not to Count
MLS has some strict, well fairly strict, listing requirements, in particular in the time that a listing has to be available in MLS before an offer is accepted on the property. But a recent instance makes me wonder whether one of the side effects of this rule is that it does not provide those of us who produce market statistics from MLS data – and those who rely upon those stats, which is everybody with an interest in property prices – with the full market information.
Let me explain.
A house in Marblehead was listed for sale in 2013 and was on the market for about 16 months. The house was then relisted in 2015 and was on the market for 8 months. Finally, in 2016 it was listed again and received an offer the following day. It remained as CTG in MLS for 3 months, but at closing the listing was changed to Cancelled – and therefore does not show in Sold stats – because, apparently, MLS did not believe the property had been widely enough available before the offer was accepted.
Now if this house had sold around the median price of about $600,000, it would be no big deal. But it sold for $3.7 million (I got that from the Registry of Deeds). Not only are sales at this price level less frequent and therefore more significant, but the price level achieved is an important data point for other sellers and brokers who either have properties for sale or are thinking of selling.
As a lover of murder mysteries, I have learned to ask cui bono – who benefits? In this case, I cannot think of anybody who benefits, but I do know that MLS data without this sale is less accurate than it would be if the sale had been included.
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Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
@OliverReports