What is the Absorption Rate when it comes to real estate? The Absorption Rate chart shows how long the current inventory of properties would last at the current rate of sales. If no new properties were added to the market, and sales continued at a steady pace, the Absorption rate indicates the number of months required to sell all the properties on the market. In a healthy real estate market this number should hover around a 3-Month average. As you can see the Gilbert, Arizona real estate market has been just below that mark since December 2014 meaning total inventory has been slightly lower than the market can handle...read more.