Definition: When working with sellers to determine a listing price or with buyers to check value before offers to purchase, real estate agents do what is known as a comparative market analysis, or CMA.
By going to sold property records, the real estate professional selects recently sold properties that are similar to the subject property and in the same area. By comparing these properties, and adjusting for feature differences, an estimate of value is made for the subject property.
A thorough CMA would also include comparison to currently listed similar properties in the area. This would allow an assessment of the current competition and might lead to an increase or decrease in the estimate based on the sold properties.
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