A Monthly Market Reporting Routine

Recurring reporting has one requirement that overrides all others: the figures must be assembled identically each time. Get that wrong and every comparison in the report is measuring your method rather than the market.

1. 1

   Fix the scope once, in writing

   Decide the segments, metrics and period convention before the first report, and write them down. Which communities, which property types, which size bands, monthly or weekly resolution, and what period the report covers. This document is the report’s methodology and it should change rarely and deliberately.

2. 2

   Save the research views

   Saved research keeps the filter definitions fixed so you are not reconstructing them from memory each month. This is the single biggest source of accidental inconsistency in recurring reporting.

3. 3

   Report sample size alongside every figure

   A median with its record count is a defensible statement. A median alone is a number someone will over-interpret. Including the sample also protects you: a thin month reported as thin cannot later be held against you as a wrong call.

4. 4

   Handle revisions explicitly

   Because of reporting lag, last month’s figure will change as records arrive. Decide your convention — report the latest value and note the revision, or hold the period open for a set number of weeks — and apply it consistently. Silent revisions destroy trust faster than a clearly labelled one.

5. 5

   Separate description from interpretation

   Keep "what the data shows" and "what we think it means" in different sections. The first is checkable and should be stable; the second is judgement and can be argued with. Blending them makes the whole report feel like opinion.

6. 6

   Review the methodology quarterly, not monthly

   If the scope changes every month, no comparison is valid. Review it on a slower cycle, and when you do change something, state the change and the date it took effect.

Definitions used in this guide: data methodology