Frankly, I love statistics. Not only did it get me through my final semester of college (yes, I saved up all my math classes to the very end), but statistics also provide a kind of superpower to persuade. In other words, I can be “right” more often, and who doesn’t love that. Give me some latitude to lay out the statistical background before we dive in — it will help clarify what follows.

The Swedish physician, professor, public speaker and academic Hans Rosling published a fascinating book posthumously titled Factfulness in 2018. He called it his “last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance…” He is likely rolling over in his grave at this very moment. Essentially, he demonstrated that many people, including doctors, economists, professors, policymakers, and economists, often scored worse than a chimpanzee on a test when relying only on preconceived notions. Statistics help us move past intuition to an actual understanding of what is happening in the world, which is a definite pro for avoiding chimp-level decision-making. The point wasn’t shame; it was perspective. If experts can be wrong, and intuition can underperform randomness, then data does become a corrective global force.

Of course, we must assume statistics are not being misused or manipulated. The classic blunder that often occurs is the correlations vs. causation fiasco. Just because two things happen at the same time does not mean one causes the other. An example of this occurred in the early 20th-century when Russian peasants observed a high correlation between the number of doctors in the area and cholera cases. Consequently, they murdered the doctors to stop the disease. Regrettably, and not unsurprising, it didn’t help or hinder the spread of the terrible sickness.

Fortunately, as we unpack the following statistics, neither of those scenarios are present. Throughout the next few weeks, we will be looking at a variety of inarguable statistics from last year’s real estate market, but today we’re sticking to the basics to answer the question everyone wants answered: What are buyers actually doing?”

Straight data was taken from the MLS-based showing management and scheduling platform called Aligned Showings. This platform is used by most Realtors in Utah to book, coordinate and communicate about property showings, and the data tells us a familiar, if not slightly inconvenient story: buyers are active, just on their own terms.

Peak showing activity occurred in the early evening hours, between 5 to 7 p.m. Listings averaged around nine showings during these high-traffic windows. This tells us that buyers still look, they just prefer to look following work, not at midday and not on the weekend. This was a surprising find. Weekends turned out to be underwhelming. In fact, Tuesday through Thursday carried more consistent traffic than the weekends. This proves that “what we’ve always done” is no longer “what we are doing now.”

The broader theme from the ShowingTime Index confirms that steady traffic, not chaos, is the constant. Utah’s market saw modest sales growth and generally flat pricing in 2025. This simply means demand didn’t disappear, but neither did supply.

More importantly, what this means going forward is that timing is now a strategy, not an afterthought. Listings that are not easy to show after 5 p.m. are going to miss out on verified buyers. Midweek flexibility is not optional if really wanting or needing to sell. This is where momentum is quietly building. Buyers are taking their time. This means the immediacy of seeing everything that pops on the market instantly isn’t happening. Presentation, pricing and patience is far more important than hype.

This also means, however, that throwing a sign in the yard and letting the weekend do its work just doesn’t cut it anymore. The buyer crowd is more selective and far less forgiving. Sellers must present clean, well-organized, homes that are not in need of a lot of work. The monthly house payment for a new buyer will make a bunch of repairs cost prohibitive. Even a chimpanzee could do the math on that one.

In a nutshell, buyers are still buying. They simply expect us (both sellers and Realtors) to meet them on their calendar, not ours. Welcome to the “real” in real estate.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com