What is a CMA?

A comparative market analysis, or CMA, is a real estate agent's evaluation, based on local listing and sales data, to determine the probable sale price of a property in the current market. Sellers can use a CMA to help determine a list price. Buyers can use a CMA to help them decide what to offer on a listing they want to buy.

The accuracy of the analysis will depend in part on the quality of the data. The listings used for comparison should ideally be located in the neighborhood, and they should be as similar as possible to the subject property. In a more rural area, your broker will know your bank parameters for searching like-style homes. Where there are few comparables either on the market or those that have sold in your immediate area; brokers will search touching towns for the information that they need.  In New York, agents will not search sales that have occurred in Connecticut or Massachusetts as these areas are not similar in value or activity.

To get a complete picture of your local marketplace, the CMA should include information about currently available comparable listings, pending sales, sales that occurred within the last 6 months (in a more stable market, comparable information was allowed as far back as one year), as well as information about listings that did not sell during the listing period. These are called expired listings.

For sellers, the currently available listings would be your competition if your home were on the market. How you price your home relative to the competition is critical to the success for your marketing efforts.

Pending sale listings in your neighborhood represent the most recent sales activity. Try to find out as much about these listings as possible. Beware of the neighborhood grapevine. A combination of wishful thinking and enthusiasm can result in a rumor that a listing sold for an inflated price. The actual sale price may be quite a bit lower. And, that price may not be made public until the sale closes.

Even before you have the closing price, inferences can be made about the selling price based on the market history of the listing. Find out how long it took to find a buyer for the home. Were there multiple offers? Or, did the listing take months to sell? Did the sellers have to lower their price to attract a buyer? This sort of information tells you a lot about the current market conditions.

Expired listings usually indicate a high water mark. The most common reason why an expired listing didn't sell during the listing period is that it was priced too high for the market.

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