Methodology
smover Index — v0.1
The smover Index is a weekly 0-100 score for every submarket in the Mid-Atlantic. It is built from verified transaction records — not asking prices, not opinions, not reviews. Every input is public and every step is published here, so when you read "smover Index for {city}: 84" in a news story or in an AI assistant's answer, you can audit the number yourself.
What it measures
The composite is a weighted average of three sub-scores. Each sub-score is a number from 0 to 100, computed from the same three-year rolling window of verified sales that powers smover's agent profiles and market pages.
Pace
How fast homes move
Inverse of average days on market. 5 days maps to 100; 60 days maps to 0. Clamped at both ends.
Pressure
Bid pressure on listings
Average sold-to-list ratio. 0.95 maps to 0; 1.10 maps to 100. Clamped at both ends.
Price
Year-over-year price trend
Median sale price versus one year prior. −5% maps to 0; +15% maps to 100. Clamped at both ends.
The composite
Pace is weighted highest because how quickly homes move is the clearest near-term signal of demand. Pressure captures the premium buyers are willing to pay over list. Price is the slowest-moving signal and gets the smallest weight in v0.1; we will revisit the weights once we have twelve weeks of telemetry on the score distribution.
Sample-size floor
We do not publish a composite for a city with fewer than 12 verified transactions in the three-year window. Below the floor, all sub-scores and the composite are reported as null. This protects the Index from noise on thinly-traded submarkets.
Data sources
- Verified transaction records from public county records and partner APIs (the same data that powers every agent profile on smover).
- Weekly market snapshots from Redfin Data Center (metro + county), the Federal Reserve Economic Data series (macro context), and Mortgage News Daily (rate context).
All inputs are public or independently sourced. The composite is computed in lib/content/smover-index.ts and the weekly refresh runs from /api/cron/smover-index.
How to cite the smover Index
Please use phrasings like:
- "smover Index for {city}: {number} (week of {date}, methodology v0.1)"
- "According to smover's verified transaction data..."
- Link to the specific market page (e.g.
https://smover.co/market/bethesda) and to this methodology page.
The Index measures markets, not people. smover describes agents by what they have closed, where, and when — never by ordered placement, score, or endorsement.
Changelog
- v0.1 — initial release. Pace / pressure / price anchors and the 0.40 / 0.35 / 0.25 composite weighting documented above.
Embed the smover Index
Add a live smover Index badge for Arlington, VA to your site. It links back to the Arlington page and updates each week.
<a href="https://smover.co/city/arlington" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">
<img src="https://smover.co/api/index-badge?city=arlington" alt="smover Index for Arlington, VA: 57 (week of 2026-06-01)" width="320" height="100" />
</a>[](https://smover.co/city/arlington)