The Problem

As a home buyer, I find market reports completely unhelpful. Real estate market reports are broken. And the people who need them most – home buyers – only get confused and lost.

I’ve read dozens of real estate market reports. They all miss the mark. As a home buyer, here’s what I learned: These reports aren’t written for home buyers.

You usually get two flavors:

  • The Economist Report – Beautiful charts. Elegant language. But needs a PhD to relate it to my decision-making as a home buyer.

  • The Agent Report – Cute summary of last month’s closings, average home prices, median days on market. Translated? “Hey look! Stuff happened.”

What am I supposed to do with that?

These reports don’t lack data. They’re useless because they don’t answer the questions buyers actually have:
“Should I buy now… or should I wait?”

The Reason

Economists write for other economists.
Agents typically serve two masters – buyers and sellers (and their next commission), thus confusing the message as what is good for buyers is not good for sellers.

Many of the agents cherry-pick whatever stat supports “now is a great time to buy.”
You don’t see reports titled:
“Market is flat. You can probably relax and wait it out.”

Why? Because fear of missing out (FOMO) closes deals. Not thoughtful, buyer-first analysis.

My Story

I sat on the sidelines for an entire year. Reading reports. Watching videos. Making sense of the numbers. Everyone had a different take:

  • “Buy now before rates go higher.”

  • “Wait for the market to cool.”

  • “Inventory is low, so you have to act fast.”

  • “Inventory is high, so there’s room to negotiate.”

Contradiction after contradiction. And while they pontificated, prices kept climbing. I lost thousands of dollars in equity waiting for “clarity.”

But the real cost? Emotional exhaustion. Not knowing if you’re making the right move. Feeling confused because the data in the reports is not helping. Second-guessing every showing, every offer, every non-offer.

What Buyers Actually Want

Buyers don’t need market updates. They need market interpretation.

They need someone to say: “Given your budget, your goals, your timeline… here’s what this market means for you.”

The Fix

Tomorrow, I’ll share what a real buyer-first market report should look like. Spoiler:

  • No charts.

  • No jargon.

  • No BS.

Just real answers to real questions, like:

  • Should I start looking now or wait 3 months?

  • What does rising inventory actually mean for offers?

  • Why are the prices still going up when there is so much more inventory?

Your Turn

If you’re a home buyer, what’s the most frustrating part of trying to understand the market? Drop it in the comments. Let’s crowdsource the report buyers actually need.