The tech revolution has reshaped the real estate industry in a major way. Between artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, sophisticated technological advancements are pushing the real estate industry into a new era. However, insightful data could be the most important factor to succeeding in today’s tough housing market.
Data allows real estate professionals to understand their customers’ and potential customers’ wants and needs. Quality data facilitates more accurate appraisals, smarter property investments and higher customer satisfaction. With predictive analytics data, real estate professionals can forecast customer behavior, allowing them to approach hopeful homebuyers before they’ve begun the process.
As we enter 2023, the need for quality, insightful data is at an all-time high. More and more sources for housing data are becoming available and real estate professionals who want to utilize top-tier data sources need to know where to go.
Below, we’ve highlighted ten of the top sources for housing data that every real estate professional should be familiar with in the year to come.
CoreLogic
CoreLogic, a leading provider of gold standard data, understands how vital data is in today’s competitive market. The company boasts databases that cover more than 99.99% of all properties in the United States and its use of thousands of diverse resources provides users with some of the most insightful intelligence available.
The company’s Homeowner Equity Report, for instance, provides a quarterly overview of the distribution of equity across all US single-family properties with a mortgage. The report includes details for every state and 10 of the major US metros.
CoreLogic’s wealth of data doesn’t end there. Recent data shares include the November 2022 US Home Price Insights report and the Q3 Quarterly Mortgage Fraud Brief.
Black Knight
Black Knight leads the industry when it comes to data and analytics. The Monthly Mortgage Monitor report provides real estate professionals with deep insight into the housing market. The report includes everything from national mortgage delinquency rate and refinance candidates by month to repay activity and payment-to-income ratio vs. 30-year rates.
Moreover, Black Knight’s Originations Market Monitor report breaks down average credit scores by product (including FHA, VA and conforming loans), market rate indices, metros with the highest share of origination volume and more.
NAR
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) produces housing statistics and data on the national, regional and metro-market level. From housing affordability and pending home sales to home buyer and seller profiles, NAR is continually pumping out data-backed reports and surveys that industry professionals rely on.
In addition. members have access to Realtors Property Resource, which provides a wealth of data and tools to help with local market trends, pricing, and more.
In the recent presentation Making NAR Data Work for You, NAR’s vice president of demographics and behavioral insights, Dr. Jessica Lautz, dives into some of the most important data points for real estate professionals in today’s market.
By getting granular with housing data, NAR produces some of the highest quality data insights while managing to make the information easily digestible for the real estate audience.
HousingWire
With top-tier news coverage on the real estate industry, HousingWire focuses on the information that agents, teams and brokerages need to succeed in today’s challenging housing market. Reporters like Logan Mohtashami are turning out daily news on the data that matters to real estate professionals.
In a recent article, Mohtashami comments on our cooling inflation growth rate, a positive CPI inflation report, the 10-year yield drop and falling mortgage rates. The article goes on to dive deep into the data and the HousingWire newsroom regularly doles out the data that real estate professionals are interested in.
Additionally, HousingWire presents HousingWire Daily, a podcast that examines the most compelling real estate, mortgage and fintech news reported across HW Media. Hosted by Sarah Wheeler, HousingWire Daily is a fun way for real estate professionals to get the scoop on the day’s trending news and hear from industry leaders about what the latest data means to them and their customers.
Mohtashami weighs in on what the latest inflation data means for mortgage rates in a recent episode and that’s just a taste of the key data being covered each afternoon on HousingWire Daily.
Realtor.com
Realtor.com’s Real Estate Data Library is free to use and can be an extremely valuable tool for real estate professionals. The files that realtor.com provides are structured for database use and contain multiple metrics for different levels of geography down to the zip code level.
The data in the realtor.com library is based on the most comprehensive and accurate databases of MLS-listed for-sale homes in the industry. By aggregating and analyzing data from hundreds of courses, realtor.com produces hundreds of metrics for multiple markets and curates figures and trends for reliability and comparability.
With reports that tackle everything from quarterly homeownership rates, monthly rental data, weekly housing trends and beyond, realtor.com is a significant treasure trove of reliable real estate data that every industry professional should be utilizing.
National Association of Homebuilders
The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) compiles some of today’s most popular regional and local tables, including permit data, employment information and new and existing homes sold by region to give industry professionals insight into what’s happening in the housing market.
NAHB recently released an online tool that provides economic and housing statistics for all local home builder associations. With this tool, users can easily compare local area statistics to state and national figures.
In addition, NAHB publishes free housing and market data on Housing Economics and subscription-based housing and market data on Housing Economics PLUS. Housing Economics PLUS includes historical and current sets of statistics such as: housing stats (by region and structure type), homes sold by region, producer price indexes, manufactured homes, new home characteristics, residential vacancy and absorption rates, units under construction, value of new construction and more.
City-Data.com
By collecting and analyzing data from a combination of government and private sources, City-Data.com is able to produce detailed, informative profiles for every city in the US. Whether it’s crime rates or weather patterns, City-Data.com helps real estate professionals narrow in on a variety of factors on a state-by-state level.
The site’s interactive data map also helps industry professionals visualize the data they are looking at. Users can target the state, city, county or region they’re in and get the data they need.
Zillow
With the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), real estate professionals can track market changes across a given region and housing type. Zillow publishes ZHVI for all single-family residences, condos/coops, and homes with 1,2,3,4 and 5+ bedrooms.
The ZHVI was built from the ground up by measuring monthly changes in property-level Zestimates and captures both the level and appreciation of home values across a diverse range of geographies and housing types. The index is optimized to achieve timeliness, comprehensiveness and visibility, making it a solid choice for real estate professionals.
Altos
Altos Research is a great resource for real-time real estate data. Altos provides weekly market statistics and analysis for 99% of the zip codes in the U.S., and understand the importance of informing real estate professionals about what’s happening in the market right now.
According to its website, Altos uses proprietary technology to analyze the market “neighborhood by neighborhood, so clients can start each week with real-time, actionable intelligence.”
Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae is a leading source of mortgage financing in all markets, at all times. With a mission to facilitate equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and affordable rental housing across the country, Fannie Mae is a pillar for reliable data in the real estate industry.
In September, Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group announced the launch of the Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI). The HPSI was designed to provide distinct signals about the direction of the housing market in order to help industry professionals and investors make more informed decisions.
“The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index provides the market a single number to track consumer attitudes focused on the housing market,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.
Prioritizing quality data in 2023 will be a must for real estate professionals. With the help of the data sources above, industry pros can better understand their customers and help more people reach their goals of homeownership.