Figuring the amount of inventory in my local market? (agent, sale, comparable)

[ocnybuyer]

The median price of a home in the zipcode I'm looking to buy in is $349K Looking at Zillow (which I know is not accurate) 15 homes have sold since 9/1/2007. About 3 per month. Currently there are 144 homes listed on realtor.com for that zip code. Is there a way to figure how many months of inventory is for sale in that zip or are there sites that help calculate this better?

[2bindenver]

You need better data in order to accurately assess an absorption rate.

How about using your agent?

[bnewman]

Ditto to 2Bindever's comment...a good Realtor should be able to spout out that information to you off the top of his/her head...if they truly know the market you're in.

[Silverfall]

You don't want to do absorption rates based on zip code. You really should localize them more to neighborhoods. One neighborhood might have a 3 month inventory and another a 6 month one. They could be in the same zip code. You also need to make sure you are looking at comparable inventories. Inventories of 1300 sq foot starter homes is different than inventories of 2500 sq foot 2 story homes. I just ran inventories for new construction homes in Salem OR and it is 19 months, but resale homes are at 6 months. That makes a huge difference in how you price.

Get a good agent for help. My .00001 cent worth.