Days on market (DOM, alternatively active days on market, market time, or time on market) is a measurement of the age of a

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

listing. The statistic is defined as the total number of days the listing is on the active market before either an offer is accepted or the

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting o ...

between real estate broker and seller ends. Generally, properties with a large DOM value will command lower prices than properties with few DOM because a perception exists that the property may be overpriced or less desirable. DOM often factors into developing a pricing strategy. DOM can also be used as a "

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer ...

" to gauge the temperature of a housing market. The other use for this statistic is allowing prospective home sellers an idea of how long it may take to sell a property. The MLS is controlled by the real estate industry and has been the subject of many

lawsuits - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...

. This value is not necessarily how long the house has been on the market due to intricacies within the multiple listing service (MLS) database. Depending on the rules of the MLS that is being used, the number is reset if a seller switches real estate agents. Sometimes there is also the arguably unethical practice of "withdrawing" the listing before it expires and adding the listing again to reset the DOM. As a result, when this statistic is used it is often lower than the true value. However, savvy real estate agents (if the MLS allows) will research the property's listing history and can tell more effectively how long the property has been on the market.

DOMM

Days on the Market- MLS (DOM-M or DOMM) is the number of days this exact Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listing has been on the market.

DOMP

Days on the Market- Property (DOM-P or DOMP) is the number of days the property has been for sale regardless of the number of different Realtors.

Housing bubble

Prior to the historic

housing bubble A housing bubble (or a housing price bubble) is one of several types of asset price bubbles which periodically occur in the market. The basic concept of a housing bubble is the same as for other asset bubbles, consisting of two main phases. Firs ...

that formed in or around 2001 due to loose

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...

and

irrational exuberance "Irrational exuberance" is the phrase used by the then-Federal Reserve Board chairman, Alan Greenspan, in a speech given at the American Enterprise Institute during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s. The phrase was interpreted as a warning that the ...

, the term DOMP was practically a mystery to anyone other than real estate industry insiders. When the Housing Bubble began to rapidly deflate in late 2005, the inventory of homes for sale exploded, which caused both sales and prices to fall well below levels predicted by leading

economists An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

. These economists were frequently separated into varying levels of respect depending on their affiliation with the REIC, because the National Association of Realtors (NAR) economists were caught giving incorrect predictions about the state of the housing market despite what was actually happening in many U.S cities.

Manipulating DOMP

To prop up rapidly falling sales,

real estate agents A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

across the country began to rely on the process of manipulating the amount of time that homes had been on the market more than ever to attract buyers and maintain sales prices. There were great disparities concerning the practice in the various regional MLS's across the country. Some MLS's charged real estate agents to alter the statistics, and referred to the practice as "refreshing a listing." In general however, the old guard of the

industry considered the practice as deceptive at best, and fraudulent at worst. Rumors of possible lawsuits circulated in the industry because homes that had been on the market for long periods of time were considered to be overpriced and thus not worth their advertised sales prices. The practice also stood in dark contrast to the National Association of Realtor's

Code of Ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of bus ...

that prohibits doing anything that is deceptive to buyers.realtor.org
/ref> Sometimes a property might be 83 days with one Realtor, and then 10 days with another. That would show up as: DOMP/DOMM= 93/10. Some realtors will try to fudge this data to make a listing look brand new.

Current use

This business practice is still being carried out by the REIC and is a point of contention with bloggers calling it "deceptive". Others maintain it is a way to acquire the attention of new customers, akin to a store moving its inventory from one location to another. MLS information like days on the market, the selling price and who were the buying agents or buyers is not available in Canada to any-one but REALTORS^r.

References

{{reflist Real estate terminology