Activity Instructions
Objective
In this activity, you and your group (of 2 to 3) will identify whether the housing market in a U.S. state is healthy or not by analyzing recent housing metrics data.
After you form your group, claim your state on the Google Sheet provided by your TA.
Housing Market Metrics
You'll analyze these five key metrics to determine market health:
Median Sale Price
The middle value of all home sale prices for a given period.
A balanced market has 3-5% growth in prices per year.
Months' Supply (Months of Inventory)
Number of months it would take to sell all the homes on the market, given the current pace of sales.
A balanced market has 4-6 months of supply.
Days on Market
The average number of days a home is listed for sale before it goes under contract (sold).
In a balanced market, homes usually sell within 30-60 days.
Sale-to-List
A measure of how close the sale price is to the asking price set by the seller. Specifically (Sale Price/List Price) × 100.
A sale-to-list price ratio between 98% to 102% is consistent with a balanced market.
Accessing Housing Data
To gather data for your assigned state, follow these steps:
- Your TA will show a QR code that links to a Google Sheet
- Claim your state by entering your group name next to the state (first come, first served)
- Go to the Redfin Data Center
- Find the "Redfin Monthly Housing Market Data" section
- Remove metro areas by clicking "Region Type" and unchecking "County", "Metro", and "Place/City"
- Keep "National" and "State" checked
- Click on "Region" and select your assigned state
- Click "Apply" to see the data
- Click on the "Download" button and the raw data will appear
- Click the download button, then "Crosstab" button, and choose Excel
- Save the file to upload in the next step of this activity
Activity Part 1 Completed!
You have successfully completed Part 1 of the Housing Market Analysis activity.
Your final assessment: The housing market is a balanced market with a score of 50.00.
Part 2: AI Analysis of Housing Market
Now let's get feedback on your assessment using AI tools.
Step 1: Choose an AI Tool
Navigate to one of these AI platforms:
Note: ChatGPT (non-Plus version) is limited in analysis capacity. Claude Pro may be needed for larger files.
Step 2: Copy and Paste This Prompt
Examine this data and assess the health of the [your state] housing market. Fill out the table where 1 is a market where nothing is selling because there are literally no buyers and 100 is an overheated market, where homes are sold before they even hit the market, and it is hard to find a house to purchase. Give me your final total weighted value and provide a justification for your response. Housing Metric Weight Value Weighted Value (Weight/100 x Value) Median Sale Price Months' Supply Days on Market Sale-to-List Total Must Sum to 100
Step 3: Complete Your Analysis
- Upload your Redfin data file if the AI tool requests it
- Record the AI's assessment values in Part 2 of your handout
- Input the AI values into the 2nd Google Sheet
- Answer the reflection questions on the back of your handout
Final Steps:
- One group member should enter your values in the TA's Google Sheet
- Your TA will create visual maps showing all states' market assessments
- Prepare to discuss your analysis with the class