One quick tip that has helped me a lot. Pick a day and time to run the numbers to keep them as consistent as possible.
I run my submarket numbers (Active and Pendings only) as well as the Short Sale (actives) and SD County Inventory numbers (actives) every Monday after lunch. I do it this way because it is a snapshot in time.
For Carmel Valley, I am running a week to week comparison of what’s happening. In this case, I use the “days back” search and wait a day or two after the end of my tracking period to allow for some late reporting.