Closed sales, median sale price, days on market, sale-to-list behavior, quick exits, and supply are loaded from the same local data files used by the reports.
Build The Brief Method
Trust the read before you use it.
Build The Brief is not a vibe check and it is not a black-box forecast. Every county, ZIP, and neighborhood read moves through the same evidence path: public market data, fixed scoring logic, confidence gates, and role-safe translation.
County reports62Broadest local anchor
Mapped ZIPs1,835Census ZCTA map layer
ZIP reads1,777Market records loaded
Scoreable ZIPs1,118Enough signal for gauges
Neighborhood reads904Provider metro definitions
Current periodAugust 2026Latest published dataset
Trust contract
The facts stay fixed. The confidence label travels with them.
Agents should be able to open a read and know exactly what it is allowed to mean. The app keeps market math separate from property judgment, client advice, and unsupported certainty.
Market Type and Speed use fixed thresholds. Direction compares each place with its own recent normal, so a small ZIP is not judged like a statewide average.
If the sample is thin, incomplete, or volatile, the read gets softened or anchored to broader context before an agent-facing sentence is produced.
Listing, buyer, investor, and mortgage views emphasize different next conversations, but the underlying market read does not move to fit the story.
Score engine
What the gauges are actually measuring.
The scores are built to answer agent questions fast: who has leverage, how quickly buyers are acting, whether pressure is changing, and how much the local sample can be trusted.
Gauge 01Fixed thresholds
Market Type
Answers: who has leverage right now?
Months of supply50%
Sale-to-list ratio30%
Sold above list20%
Gauge 02Fixed thresholds
Speed
Answers: how fast is the local market clearing?
Median days on market35%
Sold above list25%
Off-market in 2 weeks20%
Sale-to-list ratio20%
Gauge 03Relative to itself
Direction
Answers: is pressure building, easing, or near normal?
Sale-to-list momentum25%
Supply momentum20%
Days-on-market momentum20%
Above-list momentum15%
Quick-exit momentum10%
Inventory YoY10%
Support readSupply context
Inventory Pressure
Answers: is choice expanding or tightening?
Current supply55%
Inventory change YoY45%
Market TypeFixed threshold
Current leverage is scored from inventory pressure and sale-to-list behavior, not from one anecdotal sale.
SpeedFixed threshold
Pace is built from market time, quick exits, above-list activity, and sale-to-list ratio.
DirectionRecent normal
Momentum uses smoothed movement versus that place's own history, not a statewide ranking.
InventoryContext signal
Supply gets its own read so agents can separate scarcity from pricing evidence.
Calculation rules
How an input becomes a score.
Every gauge follows the same sequence. The geography changes the records going in, not the scoring rules coming out.
Map each input to a fixed scale.
Months of supply, days on market, sale-to-list ratio, sold-above-list share, quick exits, and inventory change are linearly interpolated between documented anchors. Values outside the anchors are capped at the ends of the scale.
Combine the evidence, not anecdotes.
The weighted inputs are added into the Market Type, Speed, Direction, or Inventory Pressure score. Each result is clamped to 0-100 and rounded to one decimal before the brief uses it.
Direction is relative to local history.
The first three observations are smoothed with a three-observation average. The smoothed result is then compared with a 24-observation history using a population z-score, then mapped around 50 with 15 points per standard deviation. A score near 50 is near normal; higher means strengthening and lower means cooling.
Confidence controls the language.
Sales count, missing inputs, and outlier checks determine whether a read is Full, Standard, Limited, or Anchor first. A thin local sample never gets presented with the certainty of a broad, complete sample.
Period labels matter.
County records are monthly. ZIP and neighborhood records are provider-supplied rolling three-month observations, so “3 months ending September 2026” is not a single-month September read. The same scoring weights still apply.
Confidence gate
How the system avoids fake certainty.
Before a small area earns a full read, the system checks sales count, missing inputs, and obvious outlier risk. Thin markets should sound careful.
Full25+ recent sales
Strongest standalone local read.
Standard10-24 recent sales
Usable read, still compare with broader context.
Limited3-9 recent sales
Some signal exists, but a few closings can move the result.
Anchor firstBelow 3 or incomplete
Use county or broader context before making the local point.
Geography rules
County anchors the read. ZIP and neighborhood add precision when supported.
CountyMost stable
Broadest sample and safest starting point for regional context.
ZIPMost actionable
Sharper local layer, but standalone gauges require enough complete sales signal.
NeighborhoodMost local
Useful local color, using provider metro definitions that may not match municipal boundaries.
Brief assembly
The facts stay fixed. The agent job changes the emphasis.
A listing appointment, buyer consultation, investor screen, and mortgage partner update should not all sound the same. The engine keeps the facts consistent, then the selected role and lens choose the most useful interpretation.
Listing agentSeller expectations
Lead with leverage, pace, competing supply, and what the property still has to prove.
Buyer agentChoice and competition
Lead with buyer room, speed, inventory reality, and how quickly decisions may need to be made.
InvestorMarket screen
Lead with momentum, peer context, volatility, and whether the market deserves deeper underwriting.
Mortgage proMarket education
Lead with neutral context clients can understand without rate, payment, or eligibility advice.
Responsible use
Use the brief to explain the market. Do not use it to replace judgment.
Market framing, expectation setting, local trend context, prep notes, and client-safe education before property-specific work begins.
Pricing promises, appraisals, forecasts, legal advice, tax advice, mortgage advice, investment advice, or telling someone they should buy or sell.
Build The Brief is for general market education and professional discussion support only. Market data may be delayed, incomplete, revised, or different from MLS and property-level records. Agents and clients should verify property details, comparable sales, condition, active competition, financing, and qualified professional guidance before making decisions.
Source: the current published Redfin dataset through September 2026. County reports use monthly observations; ZIP and neighborhood reports use provider-supplied rolling three-month observations. All reports are recomputed from the same local data files.