Tracking the Asking Price, Not the Sales

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I’ll be honest, this one makes my head hurt a little. I can’t figure out how meaningful it is. The website Housing Tracker tracks asking prices, maintaining that’s a better real-time snapshot of what’s going on in local real estate. Remember, not every house sells, so sales only tell you part of the story.

In any event, here are the LA trends, according to asking prices on MLS:
Median asking price as of 4/16/07: $545,000
One month trend: -0.9%
Three month trend: -0.7%
6-month trend: -2.7%
12-month trend: -6.0%

(Inventory trend: +10.8% in past month, +31.7% in past year)

As I’m a bit lost on this one, comments, please: How meaningful is it to measure asking prices? Use the comment button, or Email your analysis to lalandblog@yahoo.com