When thinking about the real estate market, most people think about prices—prices going up and prices going down. There's average price, median price, listing price, sales price.

But there's so much more to real estate stats than just price. Here are some statistics and benchmarks we use to further understand what's going on these days in Ridgefield's real estate market:

Inventory refers to all the properties currently available for purchase. Ridgefield has 267 single-family homes for sale as of this writing. This is pretty consistent with inventory levels for the last four years.

Continue to Show or "contingent" means that a particular transaction is "in process." A buyer and seller have negotiated a deal and confirmed it as a written offer. This is the time that buyers conduct inspections, apply for a mortgage and work on formal contracts. Some deals fall apart at this stage due to inspection issues or problems obtaining financing. Currently, 22 listings are marked CTS in Ridgefield. But more often than not, contingent transactions will ultimately close.

A listing is considered pending once a formal sale contract has been signed by all parties. At this point, everyone has agreed to proceed and all parties work towards closing the deal. Once a property is pending, all showings will cease. Right now there are 50 pending transaction in Ridgefield.  Fifty percent are listed over $800,000 and 50 percent are listed for less. Look forward to these transactions closing sometime in the next 30 to 90 days.

The absorption rate indicates how well homes are selling relative to inventory. This number is crucial if you're pricing to sell—"sell" being the operative word. Many sellers choose to price their homes based on what they'd like to get, not what the market is telling them it is worth. 

The absorption rate provides a benchmark based on the current sale rate and current inventory. For instance, 249 homes sold in Ridgefield over the latest twelve months. Inventory currently stands at 267 homes available for purchase. Do the math and we see that it will probably take nearly 13 months to sell through this inventory.

These numbers take on even greater value as you look at specific market segments. Right now In the $300,000 -$400,000 segment, there are seven months of inventory and in the $1-2 million segment we have nearly 28 months of inventory. Generally, six months defines a balanced market. More than 6 months indicates a sellers market and less than 6 months a buyers market.

Days on Market  (DOM) is the amount of time is takes for a property to sell. As markets slow, DOM increases. Higher priced houses usually take longer to sell, as do properties with perceived deficiencies like a busy street, no yard or an obsolete design or layout. Overpriced listings will take longer as well. The average DOM for homes sold in Ridgefield over the last 12 months is 116 days. This has come down a bit since last year but is still high by historic standards.

Rob Gutman is a real estate agent at Keller Williams Realty and also writes the blog Real Estate Chocolate.  You can contact him directly at rgutman@gmail.com.