Guide to Apartment Market Research

Whether you are considering ownership of one or more apartment properties or simply pondering a personal move, you will discover invaluable information upon performing apartment market research. An apartment analysis is an essential element of apartment research as it helps prospective owners as well as renters determine the most suitable options.

Whether you conduct your own apartment market research, or hire an outside firm, the information you find can prove priceless when making your decision about buying or renting. Apartment market research can help you to:

1. Determine the vacancy rate of an area, which will give you an idea of the apartment market trends in your area.

2. Get an economic outlook for the area, which helps determine apartment market data such as demographic, average income information and more.

3. Find rental rates, so you could see how much you can charge at your prospective property.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use government reports to find apartment market trends

The federal government, through the census or other studies, has hundreds of apartment research reports that can be helpful when you are doing market research for apartments. These studies can tell you the demographics of your area, the vacancy rate or even an economic outlook.

I recommend: The U.S. Census conducts a housing vacancy survey which gives rental and homeowner vacancy rates around the nation. The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides detailed information about the personal income of communities around the nation. Also, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reports that estimate the employment rate and wage statistics of communities around the country.

Find apartment market data for your area

Several firms around the U.S. provide apartment market data research for areas around the country. These reports typically have a condensed and consolidated version of the information you would find in government reports.

I recommend: M/PF YieldStar builds apartment market reports that analyze the market for the city in which you may be interested. Red Capital Group also provides city-by city apartment industry research on the outlook for multi-family housing.

Hire a firm to create apartment research reports

If you just don't feel comfortable doing your own market research, or you want to leave the job to professionals, consider hiring a market research firm. These firms specialize in apartment market data research and will also analyze the risks of your venture.

I recommend: IBISWorld conducts apartment market studies and creates reports that present the operational risks of the apartment rental industry. DataQuick offers customized market research reports based on the data that you request.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Before starting your apartment market research, decide what kind of information you need. This will help you narrow your search and possibly prevent you from buying market reports that you don't need.
• Avoid paying for apartment market research that simply delivers market data that you can find for free.

The official source of Apartment Market Research is
the Apartment Market Research page at Business.com