An interesting question came to the board office this week… Asking for the national definition on the calculation of “days on market” (DOM).
The quick answer – there isn’t one answer for all MLSs, as each calculate it per their own rules… and then syndication sites like Zillow or Realtor.com also calculate days based on their own structure. For instance, most sites display days the property has been active on their site, without regard to contract dates or status.
In the Berkshire MLS, our DOM don’t include any off-market time: Delay, Withdrawn, Coming Soon and Expired status time is subtracted from Days on Market. However, our DOM calculate from Active to Closed, not pending. Many MLS’s stop calculating when a property is marked as pending.
While we always reassess local decisions based on member input, it’s worth noting that we chose this timeframe many years ago to help Realtors, appraisers and especially sellers and buyers understand how long, from start to finish, a listing takes to transfer hands on average.
Also keep in mind that wherever you’re looking at this type of data, it’s a consistent calculation made by that source, from one property the next to help compare and contrast accurately.