Listing Absorption Calculator

Months of inventory = active listings ÷ monthly sales pace. Under 4 months = seller's market; 4-6 = balanced; 6+ = buyer's market. This calculator computes and interprets.

Active listings

Last month closed sales

Months of inventory

Market temperature

Balanced — buyer leaning

Annualized sales pace

240

How the math works

Months of inventory = active listings ÷ monthly sales. Under 4 = seller's market; 4-6 = balanced; 6+ = buyer's market.

Watch the trend, not just the level. Rising inventory = market cooling; falling inventory = heating up. 3-month moving average smooths noise.

How to Use

Enter active listings.
Enter last month's closed sales.
Read months of inventory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why 4-6 months is 'balanced'?

Historical norm for US residential. At this pace, prices neither rise nor fall sharply. Commercial varies widely — some markets show 12-18 months as normal.

How to use?

Sellers in tight markets (<3 months) can push price. Buyers in soft markets (>8 months) should negotiate hard. Markets transition over 3-6 months; watch trend.

What about segment?

Segment by price, geo, size, asset class. Overall inventory can look balanced while luxury sub-segment sits at 18 months. Always stratify.

What does competitive benchmarking look like?

Pull 3-5 comparable properties or units in your submarket from CoStar, Yardi, CIM, or your local broker. Normalize by unit type, class, and age. Your outputs should fall within one standard deviation of the comp-set mean. Outliers are either opportunities or warning signs — dig into why. Monthly benchmarking keeps your portfolio on-market and pricing sharp.