Columbus Pulse is a housing market report, and a report is only as good as its receipts. This page shows exactly how we measure the market, how we keep it current, and where our numbers stop. Honesty is the whole point.
The data
Columbus Pulse runs on the full Columbus REALTORS MLS. Our numbers come from the same record every agent files against, not from someone else's summary.
That record holds more than 530,000 listings across the 20 counties of Central Ohio, with history reaching back to 2013.
Every figure on this page is computed straight from that record, measured the same way each week.
The week
Every stat on Columbus Pulse uses full weeks. A week runs Monday through Sunday, and we never show the week in progress. A half-finished week reads low and would mislead you, so we wait until it closes.
The newest complete week keeps filling in for a week or two after it ends. Agents record a sale a few days after it closes, so recent closings arrive late.
Definitions that matter
A home counts as active when it is listed and not currently under contract. You can call the agent and tour it this weekend.
Contingent and pending listings are under contract. Someone already has a deal on them, so we do not count them as active.
Some published inventory figures include contingent listings, which is why our count can read lower than others. The honest question is simple: what can a buyer actually go see? That is what our active number answers.
Our active count: homes a buyer can tour this weekend.
Some published counts: may include contingent or pending homes already under contract.
The scores
Each score below is a single number built from the market itself. We keep the formulas in-house, but we never hide what a score means or what moves it.
The Leverage Index scores who holds the negotiating edge. Negative means buyers hold it. Positive means sellers do. It moves with the balance of supply and demand: how fast homes go under contract, how long they sit, and how often sellers cut price. The public score reads the last 4 weeks, so a single hot or cold week does not whipsaw it. We label the ranges plainly. Below -15 reads Buyers, above +15 reads Sellers, and the middle reads Balanced.
Market Heat scores how fast a market is moving. It reads recent sale velocity and supply pressure, and it is seasonally adjusted so a quiet January is not mistaken for a cooling market. Small markets carry a low-confidence flag. When a place records only a handful of sales a week, one deal swings the score, so we mark it rather than pretend the number is firm.
We rank a market only once it has at least 40 closed sales over the trailing 12 months. Below that line the scores get noisy, and a single sale can move a ranking. Rather than publish a number we do not trust, we hold the market out until it clears the gate.
Our affordability read compares the income a county actually earns against the income needed to buy its typical home. We line that up against the national affordability index, so you can see how Central Ohio compares. A lower reading means the median home is harder to afford on the median local income.
Revision policy
Data refreshes daily, and recent periods are recalculated as late entries arrive. Older weeks settle; the newest weeks firm up as agents finish recording their closings.
Because of that, a recent number can shift slightly after you first read it. That is the trade for reporting fresh weeks instead of waiting a month for everything to settle.
Known limitations
Closings arrive late. The newest week or two runs light until agents finish recording sales.
Our pre-2020 history is being reprocessed, so we keep it out of public trends until that work is done.
And every score here is an indicator, not a guarantee. It tells you where the market stands, not what any one home will do.
Attribution
We compute each figure straight from the Columbus REALTORS feed, and that is the point. You are reading the record itself, measured the same way every week.
The live period below updates with each complete week. It shows the exact window our latest numbers cover.
Based on information from the Columbus Association of REALTORS (period 2026-07-20 through 2026-07-26).