I keep wondering if most real estate data shows us capital flow too late.

By the time sales pick up, prices move, or investors pile into a market, the money has already moved.

The interesting part is what happens before that.

People start asking different questions. Owners start talking about selling or refinancing. Buyers who were looking in one market start looking somewhere else. Properties get repriced. Agents start following buyers into different areas.

None of that means much by itself.

But enough of it together might.

It feels a little like watching lava move underneath the surface instead of waiting for it to break through.

What do you guys watch that tends to change before the transaction data catches up?