The Best Market Data When Buying or Selling a Home

You should focus on the listing and pending sales times in the immediate neighborhood you are buying or selling in, says Richard Montgomery, not just the general housing market. David McBee/Pexels

Dear Monty: I recently read that markets can change rapidly in neighborhoods. The term “hyperlocal markets” appeared in one of your recent columns. I am an experienced real estate agent and have yet to hear of this concept. I am not challenging the conclusion, but curious to know how you determined it. Do you have any research that supports your conclusion?

Monty’s Answer: When someone knows something no one else or very few people know, one is unlikely to find research on the subject. I have found no research to validate or refute my hypothesis. This writer has studied the real estate industry for over 50 years, initially as a disciple seeking to know more and more about the origins, motivations and practices of a business that enthralled me. But as time passed and I learned more, I began to apply continuous improvement tactics to my observations. Over time, these observations morphed into insights, then into my writings. I have come full circle from being a disciple to a critic.

The Definition

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term “hyperlocal” means “limited to a minimal geographical area. Wordstream, a marketing company that helps small businesses with online advertising, defines it this way: Hyperlocal marketing is the process of targeting prospective customers in a highly specific, geographically restricted area, sometimes just a few blocks or streets, often to target people conducting ”near me” searches on their mobile device.

The Logic

When no research exists on a theory, one can apply logic or field observations. Two common circumstances across the USA are sufficient to make a claim. The assumption is that there are home buyers that will only buy in a specific hyperlocal market. They will wait for months or even years until their circumstance allows for a move, and then they will buy into that hyperlocal market. Or an event in a neighborhood will create a tiny hyperlocal market.