How to read market evidence.
SAID’s workspace shows observations. This layer explains the measurement choices that determine what those observations mean and when they can be compared.
An observation is more than a number
Why a market value needs a definition, geography, time basis and source lineage before it becomes useful evidence.
Price index and price level are different questions
A rising index, a median transaction price and an average unit price are not interchangeable measures of market value.
Stock, flow and pipeline describe different parts of supply
Existing units, completed units, starts and expected completions should not be collapsed into a single supply number.
Vacancy is not the same as availability
Why vacant stock, listed units, turnover, and market availability can diverge.
Observation date, publication date and retrieval date are not the same
A market value has several clocks, and confusing them can turn old evidence into apparent current evidence.
A market boundary is part of the measurement
CMA, municipality, city-state, territory and national series can describe different economic spaces even when the labels look similar.
Cross-market comparison needs a declared level of equivalence
Putting official numbers side by side is not enough; units, definitions, boundaries and time bases determine what can actually be compared.