by Theresa Bradley-Banta

This post has three great free resources to help you find the best cities to buy apartment buildings. They are:

  • Two of the top ranked annual reports for apartment market research and investment forecasts and,
  • One of my favorite websites for city by city apartment market research data and videos.

These reports, articles and videos will help you narrow down your search for the best apartment and multifamily investing markets.

The metro area data includes:

  • Apartment investment market conditions and overviews.
  • Employment and payroll forecasts.
  • Construction forecasts: New development figures and absorption expectations.
  • Apartment rental vacancy forecasts: Including historical figures.
  • Apartment rent forecasts: Asking and effective rents.
  • Investment forecasts.
  • Sales trends.
  • Market cycles.

Note: When investigating real estate investment markets it’s important to start your research at the macro level by studying the national and regional markets. This will give you a solid baseline for comparison between regions and markets. Armed with that data you’ll be able to knowledgeably drill down to specific data for individual metro areas and cities. In other words, a broad overview will help you see how each metro and city might perform in comparison to other areas.

For research at the submarket level download A Checklist for Researching Real Estate Markets. It includes 20 links where you can find the information you’re looking for!

National and Metro Apartment Market Investment Reports

 
Integra Realty Resources has just published their IRR-Viewpoint 2021. This includes an overview of:

  • National Real Estate.
  • Capital Markets.
  • Investment Criteria: Market cycle phases, capitalization rates, and discount rates.

Tip: While there you can also download the IRR-Viewpoint for each year of the past decade. If you are considering a particular market it would be very wise of you to look at how that market has performed historically.

Marcus & Millichap has their multifamily investment forecast. This report offers both a national perspective and local market overviews. Their report covers the:

  • National Economy.
  • National Apartment Overview.
  • Capital Markets.
  • Apartment Investment Outlook.

Again, both of these reports offer apartment market data on a national and local level. I highly recommend you download and read these reports.

Apartment Market Research Articles and Videos By City

 
For online apartment market research for individual metro areas and cities visit Property Management Insider. You’ll find:

  • Videos and articles on nearly 100 metro markets and,
  • Apartment market reports by metro for thirty cities.

Caveat: Once you determine which city you will invest in be sure to study the specific submarkets within that city. For an excellent article on how to get submarket level data read Should You Hire a Commercial Broker When Buying Apartment Buildings? 

Learn more:

 
5 Unusual Ways to Find Investment Properties

When Is a Good Time to Invest in Apartment Buildings?

How to Study Your Rental Market and Outperform Your Competition

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Theresa Bradley-Banta writes about investing in real estate while avoiding the pitfalls that plague many new investors. She is a 2017 PropTech Top 100 Influencer and winner of 14 American and International real estate awards for her website and real estate investing programs. As featured on: The Equifax Finance Blog, AOL’s Daily Finance, Scotsman Guide, The Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever Show, Stevie Awards Blog, Rental Housing Journal, and Investors Beat among others.